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between Vari-Lite from Dallas, Texas and the Moving Lights Laboratory. And our successful grant from Teaching and Enhanced Learning Research.

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Newsletter Publication of The Ohio State University Department of Theatre Autumn 2000

Volume 5 Number 1 Dear Friends of OSU Theatre,

The cast of the staged reading of The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, including members from the original production, take their bows after a successful performance. Read more about the 30th Anniversary Celebration on pages 18-19.

From left to right, Sandy Harbrecht, friend of OSU Arts, and Judith Koroscik, Dean of the College of the Arts, congratulate Ted Lange during his residency with the department in January of 2000 (see story p. 7).

One of the core characteristics of theatre is its collaborative nature. With this in mind we have been pursuing a range of partnerships this year, several of which will not come to fruition until sometime in the future. But within these pages there are several that I want to highlight for you. The Ohio Arts Council has been a supportive partner with our international initiatives, making it possible for the wonderful design work of twelve Czech artists to be seen here at the Riffe Gallery with the exhibit “Metaphor and Irony: Czech Scenic and Costume Design 1929-1999.” In addition to helping to support our first Czech artist Jaroslav Malina for an autumn 2000 residency, the OAC has asked the department to consider developing a relationship with theatre artists in Cuba. As the first step towards this, Mary Tarantino and Dan Gray joined David Edelman from CATCO and Joe Martin from The Cleveland Playhouse in late June on an exploratory trip to meet Cuban theatre folk. Other partnerships include those being developed between Vari-Lite from Dallas, Texas and the Moving Lights Laboratory. And our successful grant from Teaching and Enhanced Learning Research (TELR) makes our first partnership with ACCAD possible as we develop the Roy Bowen Virtual Theatre for use in our Theatre 100 class. The Wexner Center for the Arts continues to make it possible for our students to talk to the various theatre artists they feature in their seasons. And we partnered with many of you, our theatre community, to present the 30th Anniversary Celebration of Lawrence and Lee’s The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail. These pages are full a variety of our endeavors and achievements. I continue to be delighted to be part of the formidable collective strength found here in the Department of Theatre and I greatly enjoy my role as an advocate for both the department’s achievements and the individual successes of faculty, staff, and students.

Following the 2 nd Thursday evening performance an invited guest gives a brief response to the play and then leads a discussion with the audience and the production team. This year we were fortunate enough to have the following individuals participate in After Words.

regional campus report LIMA Theatre students were kept busy with performance and technical responsibilities in three productions at OSU – Lima this past year. Maria Ignatieva, Assistant Professor of Theatre, wrote and directed Once Upon a Time in the World for the fifth annual Theatre for Young Audiences production. 3500 children from a ten county area attended ten performances by OSU – Lima students on the Lima campus in Autumn 1999. Dr. Ignatieva also directed an all-student production of All This and Moonlight in Spring 2000. Dennis Christilles, Associate Professor of Theatre and Film from the University of Kansas, served as guest designer for the production. Joe Brandesky, Associate Professor of Theatre, directed Dear Liar in Winter

2000. The production was staged as chamber theatre at Dean Violet Meek’s house and featured two local actors, Kathleen Light and Brian Keegan, as Mrs. Patrick Campbell and George Bernard Shaw, respectively. OSU – Lima campus students kept busy in the shop and backstage for on-campus tour performances of the National Shakespeare Company’s production of Midsummer Night’s Dream (SP 2000) and the OSU touring show Sobering Thoughts (WI 2000). Several student technicians were also called upon to work off-campus for Lima Symphony and Broadway Series performances at the Veteran’s Memorial Civic and Convention Center. The 2000-01 season schedule includes a Theatre for Young Audiences

Right: Beyond Therapy, OSU Newark, Autumn 2000.

Below: Once Upon a Time in the World, OSU Lima, Autumn 1999.

production, written and directed by Dr. Ignatieva, entitled The Prince and the Puppet (AU 2000), a puppet and marionette performance by a German guest artist, Gunther Sobiewski, (WI 2001) and Beth Henley’s Impossible Marriage, directed by Dr. Brandesky (SP 2001). Students were treated to the annual end-of-year barbecue at the Brandesky home and entertained by a sing-along instigated by Dennis Christilles. Three students were recognized with awards: Sarah Uetrecht was named the Arts Divisional Awards recipient for a second time while Erin Bode and Dave Cook received the Theatre Departmental awards. Sarah, Dave, and Erin were joined by Kim Graham and Cory Barndt on the summer Study Tour to London and York, and they also took a quick side-trip to Prague where they visited the Theatre section of the Academy of Performing Arts. Nine students were a part of the twenty-three member tour group. Study Tour participants saw Vanessa Redgrave as Prospero in The Tempest at the Globe Theatre, Hamlet at the National Theatre and Cycle Play performances in York Minster. Joining Joe Brandesky as tour leader was Deborah Burks, Assistant Professor of English, a specialist in Medieval and Elizabethan theatre.

Right: Dear Liar, OSU Lima, Winter 2000.

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lima, mansfield, newark MANSFIELD The theatre program at OSU-Mansfield continued to be very active, under the direction of Larry J. Evans, Associate Professor of Theatre. The 1999-2000 theatre season included three major productions, all of which used a combination of students and community talent. The fall production was The Crucible by Arthur Miller, which was entered in the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival. The winter production was the musical George M (with Associate Professor of Music David Tovey as music director/conductor); this musical uses the songs of George M. Cohan to tell the story of his life, and was co-produced with the Mansfield

Renaissance Theatre, where it was also performed. The spring production was the Neil Simon comedy The StarSpangled Girl, which was double-cast. The 2000-01 series will begin with The Diary of Anne Frank, including two performances for the Mansfield Children’s Theatre Foundation. The Theatre department and the campus drama club (Ohio Eta Chapter of Theta Alpha Phi) worked together on a number of special projects this past year: l presenting an original studentwritten musical Eternity. l traveling to the American College Theatre Festival in Milwaukee. l sponsoring the spring theatre banquet at which several awards were given, including the Gerry Rice Theatre Award to Kelly Daugherty and the James Lewis Technical Theatre Award to Michael Maxwell. l sponsoring a touring performing group to earn money for the year 2000 European trip. The group performed 33 times, including two fall variety shows on campus. Income from this touring company and from other donations has created a trip scholarship fund of over $15,000; in addition the Admissions and Scholarships committee agreed to pay $1,000 towards the trip for each participant who is an OSU-Mansfield student (amounting to an additional $10,000).

On July 25, the group left for Europe. Stops included the Oberammergau Passion Play as well as travel through Italy and Greece, and an optional addon to London, England. Plans to improve the theatre facilities at Mansfield are in process, which will include lobby renovations and the new scene shop and dressing rooms. It is hoped that construction will begin fall 2000.

NEWARK In 1999-2000, Assistant Professor of Theatre at OSU-Newark Dave Williams directed three readings, and designed, lit, and directed three productions: Beyond Therapy, The Robber Bridegroom, and an evening of eight one-act plays. For the 2000-2001 season, Dr. Williams has chosen The Gin Game, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and Academia Nuts.

School Tours The Education Outreach Program was initiated in the Winter of 1999 with the touring production of Rock ‘N’ Roles From William Shakespeare. The show was an immediate success, with performances at some twenty high schools in the central Ohio region. This success allowed the Department to expand the Program.

In the Winter of 2000 Sobering Thoughts, which deals with teenage drinking, toured throughout area high schools. The production provided a hard-hitting message for young audiences and was lauded by Ohio First Lady Hope Taft as a

valuable educational tool in the effort to communicate the dangers of underage drinking to high school students. Mrs. Taft attended the April 20, 2000, performance at Mifflin High School, which was featured in a News Channel 4 “For Your Education” segment that same day. All tour performances ended with actor/ audience talkback sessions, so young students could ask questions about the subject matter of the plays, performing, and theatre. These question-answer sessions were always lively and appreciated by both actors and student audiences. In the end, over 9,000 central Ohio students were impacted by the Department’s tours.

During the 1999 – 2000 season, three touring shows were sent out into the Central Ohio Community. In the Fall, the program entertained even younger audiences with two touring shows that visited elementary and middle schools. Roasted Shoes…Toasted Tootsies for elementary age, and Roasted Shoes for middle school age children, had full schedules throughout the quarter, delighting and informing hundreds of young audience members on the subject of substance abuse.

2000 - 2001 Tour Stops Beery Middle School Briggs High School Buckeye Valley North Elementary Clintonville Academy Columbus Alternative High School Fort Hayes High School Frey Avenue Elementary School J. W. Reason Elementary School Leawood Elementary School Liberty Union Thurston Middle School Linmoor Middle School Madison Plains Middle School Marion Franklin High School Medary Elementary School Mifflin High School Mt. Olivet Christian Academy OSU-Lima OSU-Newark/Newark High School Perry Middle School St. Pious St. Brendan Middle School St. Matthews Middle School Starling Middle School Summit Elementary School Walnut Springs Middle School Weaver Middle School Worthington Kilbourne High School 6

Above: Ohio’s First Lady Hope Taft (center), with Sobering Thoughts cast members Lindsay Casella (left) and Mark Rhodes (second from right), greets students after our performance at Mifflin High School.

Behind the Mask In January 2000, the Department of Theatre hosted the world premiere of Behind the Mask: An Evening with Paul Laurence Dunbar. The play, about one of Ohio’s own African-American poets, was written and performed by Ted Lange (of Love Boat fame) and directed by Sue Ott Rowlands. In the first act of Behind the Mask, Lange portrays an optimistic Dunbar at the start of his career. In Act 2 he plays the more pessimistic, frustrated Dunbar who had sunk into alcoholism the year before his death. Lange hoped to introduce younger audiences to Dunbar’s work. “Paul Dunbar is a forgotten poet,” he said. “Most young literature students – black and white – don’t know who he was. Only the ‘old timers’ of my father’s generation knew his poetry. I would like to generate interest in his work and, hopefully, a new generation of young artists will discover the beauty of his poetry.” Lange was in residency at OSU from the beginning of winter quarter through the run of Behind the Mask, January 19 - 22, 2000. This show also featured scenic design by Vicki A. Horning, costume design by Jean Najar and lighting

design by Kristopher Jones. The staff of the Office of Minority Affairs, including Dr. Frank Hale, Professor Emeritus, and Dean Judith Koroscik attended the first night and joined Sue Ott Rowlands, Ted Lange and crew for an opening night reception. In addition to his residency and performances, Lange established his collection at the Lawrence and Lee Theatre Research Institute, which included scrapbooks,

manuscripts, and complete documentation of his film of Shakespeare’s Othello. Following the performances at OSU, Lange took his play to San Jose State University for an April performance at the Music Concert Hall. The performances were very well received in San Jose. The front page headline of the Spartan Daily read, “Audience Loves Lange: Actor rises above ‘Love’ reputation.”

Ted Lange as Paul Laurence Dunbar in the world premiere of Behind the Mask, January 2000.

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Facult Facultyy Club The Department of Theatre continued the “At the Club” Faculty Club performances this academic year. At the end of November, Phil Thompson directed a staged reading of the poetry of V. Mayakovsky, At the Top of My Voice, in conjunction with the Columbus Museum of Art exhibit Spectacular St. Petersburg: 100 Years of Russian Theatre Design and OSU’s production of Marriage. Expressing a central impulse of world Futurism, the performance also meant to capture Mayakovsky, the unashamed revolutionary. Most of the poems were performed in English, but parts were also done in the original Russian. The performers included Lindsay Casella, Jennifer Manvich, Olga Mogilevskaya, Eleni Papaleonardos, David Price, Regina Rockensies, Phil Thompson and Tatyana Yassenov, Assistant Director and Translator for Marriage. At the Top of My Voice was repeated at the Columbus Museum of Art in early December. On January 13, 2000, during the run of Behind the Mask: An Evening with Paul Laurence Dunbar, Ted Lange gave a presentation at the Faculty Club. “Getting to Know Ted Lange,” was a very laid back discussion about the facts and fictions of “the business.” Lange painted an aggressive picture of a political show business where everybody is eager to steal one’s ideas and make a buck. He also gave the students some useful insight on how to negotiate contracts.

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Bumper Crop of OSU PHDs Land Jobs They said it would happen and it has. Theatre faculty across the country are retiring en mass and jobs are popping up. Our graduates (and current students) are the direct beneficiaries of this job boom! In the last three months, the following students have “hit the big time:” Evan Bridenstine has a one-year appointment at Kent State University Amy Taipale Canfield has a one-year appointment at Hobart and Smith in upstate New York Joe Fahey has a three-year appointment at Case Western Reserve University Roger Freeman has a three-year appointment at the University of Georgia Esther Kim has a tenure track appointment at the University of Illinois, Champange-Urbana Vince Landro has a one-year appointment at Northern Illinois University Michael Maudlin has a oneyear, renewable appointment at Southwest Missouri State University Scott Phillips has a tenure track appointment at Auburn University Valleri Robinson has a one-year appointment at the University of Arizona

Julie Taymor: Playing with Fire: Department of Theatre Costume Studio Supervisor Julia Weiss and MFA Costume Design student Jean Najar (in the group at the top) lend their expertise to the installation of the exhibit.

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Exhibits Around Town The Department of Theatre had its hands in many exhibits that traveled through Columbus this year. To kick off the 1999 academic year, the Wexner Center for the Arts opened with “Playing With Fire,” a retrospective of the career of Julie Taymor, which ran September 1999 through January 2000. The installation featured stage sets, puppets, masks, costumes, drawings, set designs, video clips, photographic documentation and music from Taymor’s key works, including The Lion King, Juan Darien, and Stravinsky’s Oedipus. Costume Studio Supervisor Julia Weiss and MFA Costume Design student Jean Najar were both active in the restoration and mounting of costumes, puppets and masks for the exhibit. Also, Dr. Alan Woods was part of a Symposium held during the exhibition. “Spectacular St. Petersburg: 100 Years of Russian Theatre Design” could be called “The Exhibition that Nearly Wasn’t!” The exhibition which was supposed to open in October 1999, opened one month later than scheduled because of a pending lawsuit, regarding a debt (dating from the Russian Revolution) owed by the Russian Government to the USA. The Russian Government delayed sending the valuable costumes and designers’ sketches for fear they would be seized in settlement of this debt. Shipment of the exhibits took place only following reassurance from the US Government that this would not happen. Needless to say, this had Joe Brandesky, Associate Professor of Theatre, OSU Lima (the Guest Curator for the exhibit), a tiny bit nervous.

The exhibit featured 40 costumes and 75 sketches from the ballet, opera, and theatre. Brandesky divided the exhibit into five chronological “acts;” the imperial Theatre of the 19th Century; the World of Art movement that included designers such as Diagilev and Benoix; experimental theatre at the turn of the century; Soviet realism; and the contemporary period. Following its Columbus run, the exhibit moved to the McNay Museum of Art in San Antonio, TX. “Metaphor and Irony,” an exhibit of Czech Scenic and Costume Design 1920 to 1999, was on display at the Ohio Arts Council’s Riffe Gallery from July 27 to October 15, 2000. The 80year span covered by “Metaphor and Irony” traced the influences of European art movements and philosophies on theatre artists in the Czech homeland. The exhibit was produced by the Ohio Arts Council with support from The Ohio State University (Columbus and Lima campuses); the Marion Koogler McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX., and the Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS. The co-curators were Helena Albertova of the School of Applied Arts, Charles University, Prague and Joe Brandesky, Associate Professor of Theatre, the Ohio State University, Lima. Jaroslav Malina, a prominent scenic and costume designer and member of the Performing Arts Academy of Prague, was showcased in this exhibit. Malina is the first professor to take part in the exchange agreement that has been set up between the Department of Theatre of the Ohio State University and the Performing Arts Academy of Prague. Malina was in residency during fall quarter, preparing the stage design for the fall production of Tennessee Williams’ Orpheus Descending. He also taught a master class in design for Department students.

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OSU TTakes akes Over Columbus Ar ts’ Scene Arts’ OSU Theatre faculty, students and alums continue to be active in Columbus area theatre – this past year we seem more prominent than ever. Frank Barnhart, from Act Out Productions, was again elected to the presidency of Theatre Roundtable. Kathy Burkman took her production of Ashes to Ashes to the Pinter Conference

The Contemporary American Theatre Company’s March/April 2000 production of A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. From left to right are Truman Winbush Jr. (Bobo), undergraduate student Ebony Wimbs (Beneatha Younger) and Sheila Ramsey (Lena Younger).

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Above: The publicity poster for Reality Theatre’s April/ May 2000 production of As Bees in Honey Drown. PHD student Tonia Krueger played the principal role and was supported by undergraduate student Laura Gale Simpson. Mollie Levin (BA 1987) directed this comic success.

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OSU Theatre: Awards and Accolades Without a doubt, the Department of Theatre was more visible in the Columbus community this year than it has been in the recent past. Maybe you saw one of our posters at a Barnes and Noble? Maybe you got a handbill while attending a Gallery Hop? Or maybe you heard a promotional sponsorship on WCBE, 90.5 FM. Thanks to the addition of a 25% time graduate student assistant, Damian Bowerman, as well as a group of publicity lab students, we were able to get the word out about our season. Did it work? You bet. Attendance figures were up, and the media coverage was tremendous. During the 1999 – 2000 Season, department shows were reviewed a total of 19 times, appearing in The Columbus Dispatch, The Lantern, Columbus Alive and The Other Paper. We were also a feature news story 56 different times. Not to mention the awards from theatre critics and the community. Here is a very small sample of what was said about the Department. l “Directed sensitively by OSU’s Sue Ott Rowlands, Lange’s collaborator, the world premiere [of Behind the Mask: An Evening with Paul Laurence Dunbar] brims with personality, humor and period atmosphere on Vicki Horning’s library set . . .” January 21, 2000, Michael Grossberg, The Columbus Dispatch

coordinates the movement coaching of Jeanine Thompson and lighting effects of Kristopher Jones to an effect that is both dramatically powerful and politically pointed.” May 11, 2000, Doug Hoehn, Columbus Alive

Theatre (1991) written by Dr. Joy Reilly; the 1994 OSU production of The Imaginary Invalid and the 1998 Irish Repertory Theatre production of Molly Sweeny, featuring Anne Hannon (MFA 1997).

l “Well-housed and well-supported, the theater program of Ohio State University leaves little to be desired. A variety of classic and contemporary plays, as well as original works by African-American writers, come to life on the two stages of Drake Union. The technical wing of the theater department is among the best in the country, with designer Dan Gray winning deserved accolades, and the production staff is ably backed by some outstanding theater scholars, including Alan Woods. Under the guidance of Chairperson Lesley Ferris, the department continues to offer the unusual. Recently, an ambitious production of Angels in America graced the Thurber Theatre, proving that the department is not just a proving ground for technicians but also an artistic entity with a daring soul.” September 22, 1999, Doug Hoehn, Columbus Alive, “The Big Ten of Columbus Thespians.”

l The Central Ohio Theatre Critics Circle annually awards individuals and groups whose work promotes or “expands the possibilities of theater.” The Circle represents theater critics who work at area news media. On January 13, 2000, OSU was recognized twice. Once for Marriage, the award reading, “OSU transcended the language barrier with [its] collaborative, innovative production of Gogol’s Marriage, adapted and staged by Russian director Anatoly Morozov.” The second award was given to playwrights Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, who received the Roy Bowen (yes, our Roy Bowen) Award for Lifetime Achievement for their illustrious halfcentury collaborations on Broadway hits such as Inherit the Wind and Auntie Mame. Previous lifetime achievement awards have gone to Russell Hastings, Chuck Dodrill, Ionia Zelenka, Firman “Bo” Brown, Harold Eisenstein and David Ayers.

l “On the Ohio State campus, the year did bring one additional source of hope. Lesley Ferris, chairwoman of the theater department, made her local directorial debut in February and followed it up with last month’s brilliant production of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika. Add the Wexner Center’s avant-garde offerings and Russian director Anatoly Morozov’s fanciful production of Nikolai Gogol’s Marriage, and you have clear signs of a theatrical renaissance at OSU. Richard Ades, The Other Paper, “The Best of 1999.”

l “Shakespeare’s King Lear is a challenge for the most mature, seasoned troupe. For Ohio State University’s Theatre Department to attempt—and succeed—with this tragedy is an accomplishment indeed. [The actors] are comfortable and agile in these roles and demonstrate a maturity and understanding of the horror that is Lear.” May 19, 2000, Nancy Gilson, The Columbus Dispatch And now some of our awards: l “Under the direction of Joy Reilly, the large student cast lends [ Viet Rock] energy and a sense of moral earnestness. Reilly carefully integrates every aspect of theatrical performance into her concept. A sequence in which three Vietnamese women are killed by napalm

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l In his millennium wrap-up (12/30/ 99), Columbus Dispatch Theatre Critic Michael Grossberg picked the “Best Local Theatre” of the decade. OSU was involved, in one way or another, with most all of the productions, most notably I Was Young…Now I’m Wonderful, Grandparents Living

New YYork ork Cit Cityy Costume Tour Tour,, Spring 2000 Dennis Parker, Resident Costume Designer, and current MFA Costume Design students Rebecca Graves, Jean Najar and Jacqueline Shelley spent four days of Spring Break 2000 visiting costume resources in New York City. Professor Parker arranged the trip and led the students on a tour of the major costume studios, fabric shops, trim and millinery shops. At the costume studios the students had the opportunity to learn about the process each studio uses in mounting shows. The studios visited ranged from large unionized studios to small, independent operations. The highlight of the visit to Barbara Matera, Ltd. was the opportunity to see some of the elaborate beaded

work created for Glenn Close’s costumes for the film One Hundred and Two Dalmatians, which was shot in London and scheduled to open Thanksgiving 2000. While visiting the many fabric shops located in the garment district, the students helped Professor

Parker select fabrics for the department’s production of King Lear. The tour to New York also included attending an exhibition of “Rock” costumes at The Metropolitan Museum’s Fashion Institute and an exhibit about corsets and their influence on fashion at The Fashion Institute of

Technology. No trip to New York City would be complete without attending the theatre. They all saw OSU alum Eileen Heckart in The Waverly Gallery as well as Annie Get Your Gun, The Dead and Swing. Rebecca and Jean ventured to the East Village to see the rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Jean had the wonderful fortune of getting plastered with the tomatoes that filled out Hedwig’s bra.

Former OSU student Hugh Hanson (right) shows current MFA students Jacqueline Shelley, Rebecca Graves and Jean Najar photographs of some of the interesting costumes he has created at Carelli Costumes for Broadway shows and films.

We’re Going to the Zoo Over the past year, Dan Gray and 3rd year MFA design students Matt Kari and Robert Krege worked in collaboration with members of the Columbus Zoo’s Education and Outreach Division to design a new environment for the Zoo’s bird show, Wings of Flight. Based on a collage of natural, animal habitat, this environment needed to support the many aesthetic and technical requirements of these avian performers. The Wings of Flight staff also needed to strike/set-up this world in about an hour! This past spring, the design was completed and realized as an individual study course in advanced, alternative production. This class included Matt, Robert, 2nd year MFA design student Vicki Horning, and undergraduates Jessica Secrest and Shauna Turner-Smith. The environment was loaded into the Zoo Pavilion on June 19th, 2000 and will serve this production through the 2005 season. Ironically, with the hundreds of viewers that see Wings of Flight every day over the summer season, this may be the most visible scenic design of these creators to be seen in central Ohio!

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From left to right, Vicki Horning, Shauna Turner-Smith, Jessica Secrest, and Matt Kari on the newly designed set for the Columbus Zoo’s Wings of Flight.

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Lawrence and Lee Theatre The new academic year opened with a bang in Columbus, with a spectacular exhibit at the Wexner Center on the career of Tony-Award winning director/designer Julie Taymor, “Playing With Fire.” The TRI was closely involved with the educational component of the installation. TRI also presented OSU alum Diane Wondisford, who produced Taymor’s Juan Darien both off and on Broadway and on tour, who lectured in Drake Union on November

Above: An image from the Images of Asians on American Stages exhibit: Laurette Taylor, as Luana, a native Hawaiian girl, in The Bird of Paradise, 1911. Taylor was famous some thirty years later for creating the role of Amanda Wingfield in Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie.

Right: “Tiger”: Scene Nine: the pursuit detachment and the militia set out for Tiger Mountain at lightning speed, from Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy, A Modern Revolutionary Peking Opera, published Peking: Foreign Languages Press, 1970

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11, 1999. Dr. Alan Woods also participated in a panel discussion on Julie Taymor’s career. In addition to Dr. Woods, the panelists included Ken Brecher, executive director of the Sundance Institute; Eileen Blumenthal, critic and Professor of Theatre Arts at Rutgers University (and author of the publication Julie Taymor: Playing with Fire that accompanied the exhibition). Nena Couch attended Rare Book School at the University of Virginia, learning Encoded Archival Description (EAD) to use in making TRI finding aids to collections available and searchable on the world wide web. She also attended a meeting of the Dance Heritage Coalition held at the Library of Congress, as well as the Theater Curators’ Roundtable hosted by the Harvard Theatre Collection, Harvard University, where the TRI CDROM was very well received. Jerome Lawrence received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Theatre LA early in November, as part of the annual Theatre LA Ovation Awards. Janet Waldo Lee, Lucy Lee, Jonathan and Niela Lee, and Will Willoughby helped Jerry celebrate; Alan Woods was able to represent the Institute at the ceremonies. Jerry’s award was presented by Beatrice Arthur, the original Vera Charles in the Lawrence and Lee and Jerry Herman musical, Mame. Also helping celebrate at the La Mirada Theatre was Luke Yankee. On that same night in early November, the New Dramatists honored playwright Robert Anderson

with a new award in New York and Nena Couch represented the Institute. Bob discussed his work with the American Playwrights Theatre, created by Lawrence and Lee and headquartered at Ohio State. Nena was able to spend some time with Eileen Heckart at the celebration; Eileen and her son, Luke Yankee, were thus both present at celebrations honoring major playwrights on the same evening, even if a continent apart. It was a pleasure to welcome Lawrence and Isabel Barnett back to Columbus, for the 2000 Barnett Arts and Public Policy Symposium; this year’s topic was “Going Global: Negotiating the Maze of Cultural Interactions.” 2000 also marks the 50th anniversary of Isabel Bigley Barnett’s Broadway stardom in Guys and Dolls; the Institute cooperated with the Museum of the City of New York, which mounted a major exhibit to mark the event. This summer the TRI featured the exhibit “Casting Discrimination Against Asians: A Time Honored Tradition on the New York Stage,” an exhibit created by Randy Kaplan several years ago for the Association for Asian American Studies annual conference. Randy thoughtfully donated the materials to the TRI last winter. Graduate Associate Jonathan Park put the exhibit up, augmenting it with a few materials from other collections. As a member of the Dance Heritage Coalition board, Nena Couch was busy with DHC business including the National Dance Heritage Leadership Forum, a three-part leadership initiative to develop an agenda for dance documentation and preservation for the next ten years. The Forum has brought together a wide range of individuals active in the performing arts, humanities, and technology to address a variety of issues related to collecting, preserving, and documenting dance. The Forum will set forward issues

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Research Institute Update concerning documentation and preservation that must be identified as an integral part of our cultural policy. In June, Nena attended two separate awards ceremonies in New York, the Theatre Library Association book awards where Al Hirschfeld (many of whose drawings of Lawrence and Lee productions reside in the Theatre Research Institute) received an award for his most recent book, Hirschfeld on Line; and the Sidney Kingsley/ Madge Evans awards for outstanding contributions to the theatre given by the Dramatists Guild to a playwright and an actress. This year’s awardees are Donald Margulies and Marian Seldes. Nena and Alan were also busy moving collections around, consolidating and making more space for the 14th floor of Lincoln, now crowded with wonderful research materials. The International Centre for Women Playwrights agreed to establish archives at TRI as well, and will encourage its members to donate copies of their work for the TRI collections. ICWP Board member Linda Eisenstein, who’s been donating copies of her award-winning plays for several years now, was instrumental in getting the collection established. Members Ludmilla Bollow, Carole Clement, and Cass Erickson recently deposited manuscripts and published texts of their plays. TRI acquired a wonderful Alexander Benois sketchbook for Giselle at an auction in November, in large part through the good help of our great friend and supporter, Paul Stiga, and Marina Henderson, a theatre dealer from London and friend of Paul’s, who bid for us. The sketchbook is from the estate of Jerome Robbins. As Nena Couch commented, “it fits in so nicely with our design holdings: we have a number of finished Benois designs in the Sylvia Westerman collection, and as a work that shows the process of design development, works beautifully with the Gerald Kahan collection purchased by the

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College of the Arts and the Libraries.” Since Robbins choreographed Lawrence and Lee’s first Broadway show, Look, Ma! I’m Dancin’! in 1948, we’re delighted that the sketchbook has found a home in Columbus. Denise Holland has sent a wonderful collection of production materials from the long career of her father, southern California stage manager Bill Holland. Mr. Holland worked at the Music Center in Los Angeles and at numerous other theatres in the region and he stage managed the Los Angeles run of Lawrence and Lee and Herman’s Mame with Angela Lansbury, among many others. Also from the Los Angeles area, Bill Bushnell sent along close to one thousand books, posters, programs, and other materials from his long career, both as theatre artist and avid theatre-goer, most notably at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Alvin H. Reiss sent the TRI a program from the Musicals Tonight! revival of Look, Ma, I’m Dancin! Which played at the 14th Street Y in March. The musical, with music and lyrics by Hugh Martin, was Lawrence and Lee’s first show produced on Broadway (in 1948); Jerome Robbins choreographed, George Abbott directed, and the show was Nancy Walker’s first appearance in a starring role.

Fred Holdridge and Howard Burns of Columbus donated well over one thousand programs and playbills, documenting their theatre attendance on several continents over the past fifty years. Both Fred and Howard are past Presidents of the Board for CATCO, Columbus’s professional theatre company, whose archives are in the TRI. Thomas Minnick donated an oil portrait of Noel Coward. Both CATCO and the Columbus Children’s Theatre updated their archives. Alumna Anne Hannon donated theatre books, while Columbus Dispatch theatre critic Michael Grossberg donated journals and programs; Michael organized the wonderful meeting of the American Theatre Critics Association in Louisville last Spring, and the TRI is already benefiting from contacts with many of America’s working critics. Mary Bishop has donated another batch of materials to her collection, focusing on theatre restoration and revitalization. Faithful donor Harold Eisenstein not only donated more programs and materials, but he also donated time, making contact with a number of Jewish theatre companies across the United States and obtaining information about productions and seasons. Harold also helped with communicating information about upcoming audio described events in central Ohio with blind and v i s u a l l y i m p a i r e d theatre-goers, augmenting the s e r v i c e coordinated through the TRI.

Left: An archival shot from the Department of Theatre’s Winter 2000 production of Behind the Mask, now a part of the Ted Lange collection.

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OSU Ar ts Sampler Arts On April 10 the Ohio State Sampler made its way to Washington Court House. A partnership between the College of the Arts and OSU Extension, and supported by the Ohio Arts Council, the Sampler is an annual event meant to bring the arts to smaller OSU extension communities and to show them what is being accomplished at the Columbus campus. Department of Theatre MFA acting students Naomi Hatsfelt, Michael Karp, Jennifer Manvich, Kathleen Gonzales and Regina Rockensies performed monologues and scenes which had been prepared for their graduate acting class. The performance was held in the newly renovated auditorium of the Washington Middle School. The sampler was very well received by approximately 200 community members, and a lasagna dinner was prepared for the participants after the performances. The Sampler definitely had an

impact. Karen S. Bruns, leader of OSU CARES and Outreach/Engagement received an email from a parent who said, “Thanks you so much for providing my family a wonderful evening of entertainment. This is a great outreach project. I wanted to share my daughter’s thoughts after the program. She is an eighth grader and has high aspirations. She has been considering only Notre Dame and Ohio University. Her comment after your program was ‘You know, Mom and Dad, I think I better take a closer look at Ohio State.’ Of course we followed up with a resounding yes! This example only emphasizes to me the importance of these programs as an outreach for many reasons, but especially a recruiting tool. Thanks again for providing such a wonderful opportunity for the Washington Courthouse area.”

From left to right: Annie Malinova and her father, guest designer Jaroslav Malina, along with Mary Trapp Gray, Joe Brandesky, and Julie Otten, the Riffe Gallery’s Director of Education, at the July opening of the Metaphor and Irony exhibit (see story p. 8)

Vir tual Theatre Grant Virtual In Winter 2000 the Department of Theatre submitted a proposal entitled “Virtual Theatre Interface” as part of the Instructional Innovation Grant Program run by the Office of Technology and Enhanced Learning and Research (TELR). The instructional problem to be addressed was to convey the interactive and practice specific nature of theatre to the large number of students who take the

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Introduction to Theatre class. The proposed solution: to develop a virtual theatre interface which would be web accessible and designed to provide hands-on experience for these students. The department was delighted to learn that we were awarded $39,280.00 to pursue this project. The proposal calls for the creation of a virtual theatre, a 3-D space constructed as a simulation of the Roy Bowen Theatre in

Drake. The funding from this grant enables the department to work with the Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD) to create the virtual theatre space. The grant supports two graduate research assistants who will work with ACCAD staff and theatre faculty and staff to develop this innovative teaching tool. Dr. Joy Reilly, head of the Theatre 100 class, is delighted with this

development and hopes to use the virtual theatre as a cornerstone to distance learning for this introductory course. For more information on the grant proposal, visit: h t t p : / / w w w. c g r g . o h i o state.edu/~kwhitloc/vtp/ index.htm. To view the everchanging prototype, see http:/ /www.cgrg.ohio-state.edu/ ~ a s o m a s u n / UpdatedVirtualTheatre.html.

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Graduate Degrees Awarded Masters of Arts Matthew Owens. “An Examination of Midwestern College and University Production Trends: 1991-2000.” (L. Ferris). Masters of Fine Arts Acting Caroline Bradac. “I Was Held Hostage: Performance of the Role of Teresa in The Hostage by Brendan Behan.” (S. Ott Rowlands). Robin Gordon. “iphelOa.” (J. Thompson). Michael Karp. “Struggles and Triumphs: The Creation and Performance of Barnum’s American Museum.” (J. Thompson). Jessica Morgan. “Angel in America: A Documentation of the Preparation and Performance of the Role of The Angel in Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika.” (S. Ott Rowlands). Carole Russo. “Confessions of a Consort: The Role of Meg in The Hostage by Brendan Behan.” (S. Ott Rowlands). Carney Gray Schuck. “Come Out You Black and Tans: An Analysis of the Rehearsal and Performance for the Character Pat in Brendan Behan’s Play The Hostage.” (S. Ott Rowlands). Masters of Fine Arts Design Matthew Kari. “Scenic Design for a Production of William Shakespeare’s King Lear.” (D. Gray). Robert Krege. “A Scenic and Lighting Design Interpretation of Brendan Behan’s The Hostage for The Ohio State University Department of Theatre’s Production.” (D. Gray). Doctor of Philosophy Joseph Fahey. “World Finders: The Progressive Efforts of the American Delsartians in the Late Nineteenth Century.” (T. Postlewait). Beth Kattleman. “Magic, Monsters, and Movies: America’s Midnight Ghost Shows.” (A. Woods). Esther Kim. “Asian American Theatre History from the 1960s to 1990s: Actors, Playwrights, Communities and Producers.” (T. Postlewait). Kaizaad Kotwal. “Variations of Virtual Reality in Theatre and Film: Truth and Illusion Via Art and Technology.” (S. Constantinidis).

Comparative Drama Conference The 24th annual Comparative Drama Conference took place at The Ohio State University April 27-29, 2000. Organized by Conference Director and Department of Theatre faculty member Stratos Constantinidis, the three-day interdisciplinary event was attended by 160 participants who discussed 120 papers divided in 40 sessions. They also attended a keynote address “On Histories of Theatre and Theatre as Visual Construction” by Professor Juan Villegas (University of California, Irvine) which was followed by a reception on the 27th. Participants attended CATCO’s Shorts Festival 2000, and the conference ended with a lively roundtable discussion. This first edition of the Comparative Drama Conference at The Ohio State University was cosponsored by eleven academic units (including the Department of Theatre). Attendance was open and free to the faculty and students of all co-sponsoring units. Nine members of the conference board, 25 faculty members from the co-sponsoring units, and six members from the Department of Theatre (Professors Joy Reilly, Anthony Hill, Joseph Brandesky, Maria Ignatieva, David Williams, and recent Ph.D. graduate Kaizaad Kotwal) chaired the sessions. Lesley Ferris, Chair of the Department of Theatre, gave the welcome speech. The keynote speaker was introduced by Professor Dieter Wanner, Chair of OSU’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Professors Donald Larson and Ignacio Corona served as respondents. Ph.D. students Kristin Crouch and Eileen Krajewski presented papers and so did alumni Michelle Cuomo, Brenda Laurel, Shauna Vey, Steven Weiss, and Anastasia Koumidou. The conference is an international one and this year it was attended by many university professors who traveled long distances to participate in it — from New Zealand, Taiwan, Russia, England, France, Germany, Italy, and Canada. Top: Juan Villegas delivers the keynote address on the opening day of the Comparative Drama Conference Bottom: PHD student Eileen Krajewski presents her paper “Celtic Influences in Polish Romantic Drama”

Internships Etcetera Damian Bowerman (2nd year MFA actor) spent the summer of 2000 portraying John D. Rockefeller as part of Ohio Chatauqua 2000: Creating the 20th Century: Ohio Voices. The Ohio Humanities council and the Institute for Collaborative Research in Public Humanities at Ohio State University presented this exciting form of interactive literary entertainment based on the Chatauqua legacy of the past. The Ohio Chatauqua takes the form of a traveling tent show that presents history in its most compelling form - first person historical characterizations. A troupe of five scholar/ performers each portrays a significant figure from Ohio’s past who serve as resident scholars in the host communities, making evening presentations under the tent and conducting daytime workshops in a variety of locations. Ohio Chatauqua 2000 introduced spectators to prominent figures from Ohio’s past who played a major role in shaping the country, including inventor Thomas Edison, industrialist John D. Rockefeller, political reformer Victoria Woodhull, poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar, and Branch Rickey, the baseball entrepreneur who integrated the sport. Performances took place in the communities of Lancaster, Peninsula, Ashland, Wilmington and Marietta, Ohio, throughout June and July 2000. The Journal of American Drama and Theatre published Mark Evans Bryan’s (3rd Year PHD) article, “‘ENTER NEGROES’ The Rhetoric of Race and Slavery in an American Revolutionary Era Drama: John Leacock’s ‘The Fall of British Tyranny’” in the Fall 2000 issue. In Spring 2000 John Harris (2nd year PHD) traveled to Boston, compliments of the Morrow Fund, to see the ART production of The Ohio State Murders. John will direct our production of this piece in Autumn 2000.. Katy Hite (undergrad) spent six weeks with the English department at the University of Bath, studying English literature. She visited the Globe, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford, and Dublin, among many other places! Katy received the Wolfe Study Abroad Scholarship to help pay for the trip! Tonia Krueger (4th year PHD) and Karin Maresh (4th year PHD) were each awarded $1,200 in PEGS monies to further their dissertation research. Karin is writing on the contributions of key women in the history of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Tonia is writing a biography of the career of Jessica Tandy. Both used the money to defray the expenses of travel and research at archives. John Leahy (undergrad) was hired as the Master Carpenter for the University of Wisconsin – Madison’s professional summer theatre. He supervised a staff of carpenters for the construction of three shows this summer. Blair McCourt (undergrad) was in Off the

Lake’s production of Guys and Dolls as a chorus member. Anthony Peeples (undergrad) spent winter and spring 2000 as part of the Ohio Company at the Cleveland Playhouse. He was in two Ohio Company productions (The Rain Will Come and The Arkansas Bear) and two Reading Company productions. He also played the role of the Clown in the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival’s The Winter’s Tale. Because of his impressive work with the Ohio Company, Anthony was cast in an Equity production the Playhouse did as part of their mainstage series, The Infinite Regress of Human Vanity by Murfey Guyer. Anthony was the only non-Equity actor cast in the play. Valleri Robinson (PHD ABD) received $400 from the Morrow Fund to conduct research in New York City and Cambridge, Mass. Christy Stanlake (3rd year PHD) received $700 from the Morrow Fund to travel and conduct research in London, England in June to appear in a restaging of Harold Pinter’s 1996 drama, Ashes to Ashes, which Women at Play had produced at the OSU Hillel in the fall of 1999. The production was directed by Katherine H. Burkman, who is artistic coordinator of Women at Play and Professor Emeritus from OSU’s Department of English. The production was presented at an international meeting at the Russell Hotel in London where some 70 people from 10 countries gathered to honor Harold Pinter, who turned 70 this past October. The performance, which took place in the hotel on Saturday June 17, was warmly received and was followed by a lively discussion of the play. Lauren Strasser (undergrad) was in two shows with the Ohio Festival Theatre, an outdoor summer repertory theatre in New Albany, playing Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and the Minister in Hamlet, and Officer O’Hara in Arsenic and Old Lace. Lauren has also been commissioned to become part of the yearround Positive Vision Theatre repertory group, doing various vignettes to further HIV/AIDS awareness. Nan Zhang (2nd year MFA Lighting) received a $1,500 PEGS award that allowed her to accept an internship this summer at the KO festival of performances, an annual summer theatre festival in Amherst, MA. The festival celebrates multicultural collaboration and artistic ingenuity. She was the Stage Manger for the first show, The House Not Touched by Death by the Pilgrim Theatre from Boston. She ran part of the video projection and a hand-held light as a tiny followspot (which meant she had to be dressed in all black and she physically followed the performer in the dark) for 47 Frames by the Cypher Collective from New York. For the final show, The Journey to Heaven: The Shaker Way by the Pontine Movement Theatre from New York, she ran sound.

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Film and Video Carney Gray (MFA 2000) and Jeremy Meier (1st year MFA) were the stars of “if(!Null){” [if not null], the MFA thesis exhibition of Wobbe F. Koning, a graduate student in Art and Technology. Carney and Jeremy performed fragments of philosophy as a coherent dialogue where no questions are answered. The live action video was combined with computer graphics sequences that commented on the live action, and provided contrast by complementing and juxtaposing it. The perspective on reality and its representation shifts constantly. A viewing space was constructed in the Hopkins Hall Gallery so that all extraneous light was blocked out. In an effort to fully engulf viewers in the work, the two video screens appeared to be floating in nothingness. This was the first fully digital video work to be produced at The Ohio State University. The work was shot and edited using the new DV (Digital Video) technology, and was presented from two synchronized DVD (Digital Video Disk) players. The installation ran in the Hopkins Gallery May 15 – 19, 2000. Filming took place during chilly Winter quarter in the Department’s Mount Hall Studio Theatre.

With the assistance of Daniel Boord, Associate Professor in the Department of Theatre, several students from his Video Production I class officially began film careers during Winter Quarter. After winning a script writing contest sponsored by the College of Biological Sciences, Ross Headly, a junior communications major, worked with students Jason Swank (Director) and David Gelb (Editor) to produce The DNA Files, a spoof on The X-Files. The story is that of Todd, a high school student whose science project is sabotaged. There are four suspects: the school bully, Todd’s project partner, the teacher’s pet and the school janitor. The “FBI” is called in to collect evidence and conduct interrogations. Blood and hair traces left at the scene allow for DNA testing and lead the agents to the guilty party. After the video is shown, the DNA workshop turns a high school classroom into a mock forensics lab and the 10th-graders become the scientists who solve the crime through DNA fingerprinting. Congratulations to co-producers Danielle Gavey and Brian Turner, and to the stars of the film: Laura Butler, Quinn Carlson, Dustin Fisher, Thomas Greer, Reginald Harper, Jordi Matsumoto, Lauren Strasser, and Blythe Walker.

Vari-Lite Par tnership Partnership Vari-Lite, Inc., a Dallas-based manufacturer of automated lighting and related products, selected the Department of Theatre as a research partner for the development of a pilot collegiate automated lighting program valued at $1.1 M over three years. This partnership will provide our students with training on high end equipment by the country’s leading automated lighting manufacturer. It will offer our audiences the fruits of this collaboration

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as they witness the results of the research through our productions. The Vari-Lite/OSU partnership provides an example of the integration of corporate and university goals to produce advanced educational and research opportunities. For more information on this exciting partnership, follow the Vari-Lite link at the bottom of the Department of Theatre’s web site: http://www.the.ohio-state.edu/.

Ron Cannell Retires

Lesley Ferris and Technical Director Mark Shanda officially congratulate Ron Cannell for his years of service to the department.

On February 3, 2000, during the quarterly department meeting, we all said goodbye to a good friend. After ten years of service as the scenic studio supervisor, Ron Cannell officially retired. As many of you may know, Ron has been battling a degenerative nerve disorder for several years and at the beginning of the school year decided to take disability retirement. By the time all of the paperwork was processed it was February before we could express our proper appreciation for all Ron had done for the department. Dr. Ferris and Resident Technical Director Mark Shanda presented Ron with a plaque in recognition of his service to the students and faculty of the department. Ron joined the department in the autumn of 1990, and immediately became a strong presence in the scenic studio. Under his direct supervision over ninety productions were built, countless practicum students each quarter learned construction techniques, and, most importantly, no one was hurt. Ron’s remarkable safety record, his friendly nature, and his laid-back attitude will be missed. In May, Ron moved from Columbus to a new apartment just outside Flint, Michigan, to be closer to his children, grandchildren and favorite fishing spots. Although we will all miss Ron, we hope that the fish are biting, that his health improves, and that he is greatly enjoying this new time with his family.

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3 0 t h A n n i v e r s a r y The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail On April 21, 2000 the department and the Lawrence and Lee Theatre Research Institute presented a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the 1970 world premiere of The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail. The event was hugely successful, with more than 150 people present. The play more than held its own, and was met with enthusiastic applause. And the event raised over one thousand dollars for the Lawrence and Lee Theatre Research Institute and the Roy Bowen Theatre endowment funds. We’re enormously grateful to all who participated, both in Columbus and from afar. And particularly to the original cast members who reprised their original roles—David Ayers, Bronwynn Hopton, and Burt Russell. The years literally fell away.

A Director Remembers A play’s closing night is usually a gloomy event. Something that was alive is no longer breathing and the people who created it will no longer be a working team. The closing of the original The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail was far more poignant than an ordinary closing.

The event began with a reception and the performance followed. In addition to the three original cast members, the performance included faculty, students, and friends of OSU Theatre. After the performance, David Schooler, friend of OSU Theatre, hosted a wonderful buffet for Roy Bowen and the original cast members at his home in German Village. Here’s the material printed in the program for the gala event. The only disappointment was in the last minute difficulties which made the presence of Jerome Lawrence and Janet Waldo Lee impossible; Janet was able to send her best wishes, which are in the box to the right.

Right: David Ayers (left) and Burton Russell (right) reprise their original roles as Henry and Bailey.

After the heady excitement of final rehearsals with Lawrence and Lee working with us, after an opening night which brought audience cheers and excellent reviews, and after eight rewarding performances, we were faced with not only the play, but The Ohio State University itself, closing. The oval was filled with demonstrating students and National Guard soldiers with guns and gas masks. An enduring memory to me is a student calling out to me, “How could you direct that play and not be marching with us?” Then came the tragedy at Kent State and the OSU closing continued for three weeks.

Below: From left to right, Nena Couch, Lesley Ferris, Roy Bowen, and Alan Woods cut the 30th anniversary cake at a reception preceding the performance.

For the opening of the Summer Season, we revived Thoreau. Costumes drenched with tear gas were cleaned - twice. A change of venue to Hughes Hall and some necessary cast changes did not prevent capacity audiences and standing ovations. After two weeks, this closing night was not a sad one. Already the American Playwrights Theatre had so many applications that the play became the most produced drama of the late 20th century. Roy Bowen, April 21, 2000

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The Playwright Comments Jerry Lawrence and Bob Lee considered creating plays the greatest sport in the world. They wrote from their own passions about the things that made them angry, about what inspired them, and what they would like to change, and Thoreau was a favorite work of theirs. I had the good fortune to be present at the initial production at OSU of Thoreau, and remember with much appreciation the wonderful performances of an exceptional cast. It makes me quite frustrated to miss seeing so many of the original cast again. David Ayers was superb, also Burt Russell, Bronwynn Hopton, and the inspired direction of Roy Bowen. I’m sure Firman Brown will be an inventive and original Waldo; his direction of Auntie Mame in 1986 was wonderful. I wish I could witness the performances of all the new cast: John Crawford, Lesley Ferris, Phil Thompson, Earl Webber, Greg Maier, and of course, in one of my favorite roles as Lydian, Joy Reilly. How nice that she is already a part of the Lawrence and Lee Family, having played Auntie Mame. Thanks also to the townspeople Harold Eisenstein and Sue Ott Rowlands. Hope you all “have a Banquet.” A special thanks to the wonderful and ever patient Alan Woods, and the ever lovable Nena Couch. Thanks for your dedication and caring. My children Jonathan and Lucy and I are heartbroken to miss this celebration of Thoreau and of Lawrence and Lee. We had unexpected circumstances which made it impossible for us to be there. But as Thoreau said, “It’s not necessary to be there in order to be there.” We thank you, we love you, and we embrace you all. Cheers! Janet Lee April 21, 2000

Thirty years ago, Thoreau reinvented Civil Disobedience on stages throughout the country for American Playwrights Theatre in a world still ringing with battles and bullets. In the years since, the play has found a global audience at the Theatre for Young Spectators in Leningrad U.S.S.R., the prejudice ridden South Africa, and in Cantonese at the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre in honor of the students killed in Tianemen Square. Today audiences are still finding on the printed page and the ever-living stage, Thoreau’s Formula for Freedom. His answer to the needs of peoples minds is to join the march toward liberty for all minds. Jerome Lawrence, March 5, 2000

New Era for Drake Despite our good facilities in Drake, the Department of Theatre has always been crunched for space. When it was clear that the Drake Union was no longer destined to be a student union, Lesley Ferris worked with Michael Kelly Bruce, Associate Dean in the College of the Arts and Betty O’Brien (space coordinator for the college) to see if it was possible to gain more space in Drake. After months of meetings and negotiations with Residence and Dining Halls (who took over Drake), University Resource Planning and Institutional Analysis (the space people: Glen Funk and Ann Pensyl), the Department of Theatre gained much needed additional space! We are now able to control the classrooms on the top floor that we were previously ‘borrowing’ from Drake Union. We also accrued additional space which includes offices and the suite of interconnected rooms on the top floor. Mark Shanda assisted this negotiation by providing necessary plans. As the result of this change, we have moved the Theatre 100 GTA’s and Coordinator into much needed office space and we will be moving our video teaching from Haskett Hall and Hopkins Hall to Drake. Finally, the suites will be developed into a New Works lab for teaching performance and video. In our next issue of Encore we will report on these space developments. For now, many, many thanks to those involved with this project!

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End of YYear ear Festivities On Wednesday, May 31, the Department broke bread together in celebration of another successful year. Nearly 100 faculty, staff and students attended the second annual event, which began with a warm welcome from Chair Dr. Lesley Ferris. Joy Reilly presented the undergraduate majors who received their B.A.’s in 1999-2000 with a certificate of appreciation for the sacrifices they made in pursuit of their degrees, including spending “$30,000 at Wendy’s, Steak Escape and/or Sbarro.” No theatre celebration would be complete without a performance, which to our delight was provided by the DNA Files, created by Dan Boord’s students. This short video was created in the style of the popular X-Files television series to supplement Columbus Public Schools’ lab sessions on DNA (see story page 17). Also screened was the Channel 4 “For Your Education” segment on Sobering

Thoughts, the school tour, which featured Lindsay Casella, Eleni Papaleonardos, Mark Rhodes, and Ken Troklus with Ohio’s First Lady Hope Taft. The evening ended with the announcement of the undergraduate scholarship winners and graduate student achievements and then everyone headed to the Roy Bowen Theatre for the 2 nd annual Live Backstage ’00: An AIDS Benefit. A $5 donation was requested at the door and proceeds were sent to the Columbus AIDS Task Force. Members of the Task Force were also available in the theatre lobby to answer questions. The End of Year Celebration was a wonderful opportunity for the Department to review the achievements of the 19992000 season. We look forward to another successful celebration next year!

Rocket Venues Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh, is not venue at the Fringe Festival. Xela was only a beautiful city but also home to ably assisted by Ph.D. student Karin the world’s largest theatre festival, the Maresh for the last two years. Over time Edinburgh Fringe Theatre Festival. Fifty- these “Rocket Venues” have grown into four years ago four venues the festival t h a t began as an encompass alternative to six different t h e performance International spaces. Theatre Other OSU Festival that students would offer who worked opportunities for the for performers. Rocket Every year Venues amateurs and were Chris professionals Dickman, come from all L a u r a over the globe From left to right: Chris Dickman, Karin Maresh, and Jeff F a r k a s , to participate Parise Cherie in the threeGallinati, week event. Six years ago one of OSU’s Chester Harding, Jeff Parise, Maura own, Ph.D. student Xela Batchelder, Phelan, Jeff Rice, Drew Ward, and took on the task of managing a theatre Richard Wasito.

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Spotlight on U n d e r g r a d u a t e s The Undergraduates kicked off a very active year under the leadership of Greg Maier who brought much energy and many innovative ideas to the oneyear-old UTAC (Undergraduate Theatre Advocacy Committee). On the second Sunday of the Autumn Quarter Take Back the Space was a gathering of

“All the Good Stuff’s Already Been Sullivan presented a stunning first Written” outside of the Wexner Center honors undergraduate recital. on October 27, during an all day Bookmarks and Blessings is an celebration of performance in autobiographical piece about growing conjunction with OSU Homecoming. up in Ohio that he wrote and presented The Undergraduate Display Case to the department in the Roy Bowen was inaugurated outside of the Main Theatre on April 8, 2000. Sean Office near the entrance to the Drake. received a $4,000 scholarship from the The case spotlights the Honors committee to work on this ongoing activities of project which was developed over two Undergrads. Laura years with Joy Reilly as project adviser Simpson took over the and Esther Beth Sullivan as his honors management of the adviser. The year concluded with a case as the new very successful second annual Live u n d e r g r a d u a t e Backstage ‘00, an AIDS benefit that assistant to Dr. Reilly, was planned, written and performed by Chair of Undergraduate Undergraduate actors. This followed Studies. Laura was our second annual End of Year busy snapping Awards Celebration, where, among exuberant goings on the many awards handed out, the 2000 throughout the – 2001 undergraduate scholarship department. We winners were announced. We wish to Undergraduate Mollie Workman (left) and MFA Design student learned more about thank our alumni for contributing funds Matt Kari (right) ready their portfolios for display during the Skene. the behind-the-scenes to this worthy cause and invite any and after hours recent alumni to participate in creating students performing a variety of short activities of the Undergrads this way scholarships to celebrate their pieces in Browning Amphitheatre than we ever suspected. The display experience at OSU while helping to beside Mirror Lake. In the meantime, case also highlighted the support the education of outstanding The Writing Company (off to its accomplishments of second year of providing actors with graduating students an opportunity to write their own each quarter and materials such as short plays, scenes, introduced us to new songs, poetry, monologues, T.V. and faces in the fall. We films scripts, etc.) was hired by The inaugurated a Mentor Wexner Center for the Arts to program for incoming participate in its ArtVentures program new and transfer in conjunction with the Julie Taymor’s students. UTAC also exhibit at the gallery. The Writing organized the first Company teams of actors worked in Skene Exhibit, which hourly sessions throughout the quarter displayed the at the Wexner Center directing and impressive portfolios performing with visiting fourth grade and technical theatre students – creating their own African designs of performances. The actors had great undergraduate and Sean Sullivan performs his honors thesis Bookmarks and Blessings fun, gained experience for their graduate students as in the Roy Bowen Theatre. resumes, and were able to make $25 well as faculty. UTAC per hour per actor! By invitation of the also supported a variety of projects by current and talented incoming high Honors Homecoming committee, The the new Cinema and Video interest school students. Writing Company also created and group in the department. At the performed an expanded version of their beginning of Spring Quarter Sean

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Anatoly Morozov (left) and Tatyana Yassenov (right) work with MFA actor Damian Bowerman during rehearsals for the Autumn 1999 production of Marriage by Nikolai Gogol..

1999 - 2000 Guest Ar tists Artists New York Times theater critic Mel Gussow opened the brown bag lunch table series for 1999 – 2000 on October 7, 1999, with a discussion of his biography of Edward Albee, entitled Edward Albee: A Singular Journey. Gussow talked about his history with Albee and then related a few interesting stories about Albee’s life. Gussow also answered questions from those attending and reflected on theatre at the end of the 20th Century, sharing his thoughts on the major American playwrights. On October 14, 1999, Dr. Lisa Merril, from Hofstra University and author of When Romeo Was a Woman (University of Michigan Press, 1999), spoke before a large crowd of faculty and students on her research into Charlotte Cushman’s performance of breaches roles, most notably Shakespeare’s Romeo. Sharing some of the available textual and visual research, Merril discussed how Cushman negotiated success in these roles, focusing on how audiences in London and New York perceived similar performances differently, based on slightly different notions of gender, which were influenced in part by the English assumptions about Americans. Anatoly Morozov, an award-winning Russian director from St. Petersburg and the current Artistic Director of the Belgorod Drama Theatre in Russia, directed the Fall 1999 production of Gogol’s Marriage. Mr. Morozov holds a degree in theatre directing from the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts in Moscow. In addition to directing Marriage

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Mr. Morozov taught a master class for MFA actors. This was quite an accomplishment, since he speaks very little English. He was aided by Tatyana Yassenov, who served as translator and Assistant Director. Mr. Morozov considers theatre not simply a function of words and actors, but a combination of music, movement, color and lights, and his use of dance and movement has become a trademark of his directing style Performance artist Tim Miller was in Columbus in October 1999 to perform his autobiographical one man piece, Shirts & Skin. The two performances were cosponsored by Act Oct Productions and the department. While at OSU, Tim conducted a residency with undergraduate and graduate actors. OSU alumna Diane Wondisford spoke on Thursday, November 11th, in the River Den at Drake Union. A good mix of faculty and students attended her presentation, “Getting to New: Making New Music Theatre in America,” which was preceded by a reception. Diane is managing director of Music-Theatre Inc., for over twenty-five years a major source of experimentation in musical theatre. She produced Julie Taymor’s Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass in New York, both off Broadway and for its Tony-nominated Broadway run, and has been instrumental in fostering the careers of such innovators as Martha Clarke, Sidney Silverman, Charles Mee, Anne Bogart, Richard Foreman, Stanley Silverman, Eve Ensler, John Kelly, Richard Peaslee, Cornelius Eady, Dierdre Murray, and many others. Her talk was presented by the Lawrence and Lee Theatre

Research Institute and cosponsored by the Wexner Center for the Arts and the Department of Theatre. In late October Eartha Kitt was in Columbus to see the Opera/ Columbus’ premiere performance of Vanqui, a 20th century African American opera. While in town, Ms. Kitt joined students and faculty for “A Conversation with Eartha Kitt” at the Wexner Center for the Arts. The Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA) issued an invitation to OSU Department of Theatre to attend the performance and Dr. Lesley Ferris and the cast of Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika took up the invitation.

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Zbynek Ondrich, the Administrative Director of the Archa Theatre of Prague, was in residence during the latter part of the autumn quarter, visiting Columbus as part of an ArtsLink fellowship, which dovetailed nicely with the Department’s new connections with the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. While in the US, Zbynek attended theatre and arts management classes and he delved into issues such as budgeting, financing and fund raising with local theatre production experts. He led a discussion with students and faculty entitled “Theatre Archa: the Wexner Center of Prague.” In addition to visiting the Department of Theatre, Zbynek also visited the Wexner Center, and toured theatres in Cleveland, Chicago and New York. One apparent difference Zbynek saw between Czech theatre and American theatre is the division of responsibility. He found it interesting – and valuable – that local theatre groups willingly share the various tasks in preparing a performance. “That’s good practice,” he said. “Everybody can do everything and everybody wants to. It’s not that way in Prague, where an actor is only an actor, and a stage manager is only a stage manager.” Gloria Baxter, a professor of drama at the University of Memphis, spent part of her sabbatical this year as the 2000 Thurber Playwright-in-Residence. During her stay, as well as teaching a seminar in script adaptation, she staged the Winter Quarter show Mississippi Stories. This piece is her adaptation of two stories by fellow-Southerner and Pulitzer prize-winner, Eudora Welty. Baxter was originally commissioned by the American Embassy in Paris to create a show for a 1994 tour of France and the inauguration of the Eudora Welty Research Center in Dijon, France.

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Recognitions of Baxter’s work in script adaptation and stage direction include a first place award at the Edinburgh International Theatre Festival and featured presentations of her work at the Albright-Knox Modern Art Gallery in New York, the Smithsonian, the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, the United Nations, and the International Faulkner Conference in Oxford, Mississippi. Her original stage adaptations have also been invited on tour to Canada, England, France Belgium, Scotland, and Wales. After she was commissioned to do Mississippi Stories, Baxter visited Welty, who recently turned 90, in Jackson, Mississippi. “Welty is one of the greatest voices of Southern writing and kind of like a national treasure,” Baxter said. “She gave her blessing to the project after we talked about approaches to it.” In April 2000 Sergei Tcherkasski of the St. Petersburg Theatre Arts Academy attended and presented a paper at the Comparative Drama Conference held in Drake Union. While he was here he gave a special talk for the Department entitled “Stanislavski and Method Acting in the USA.” This talk came on the heels of the Department’s production of Marriage by Russian author Nikolai Gogol, and the Columbus Museum of Art exhibition Spectacular St. Petersburg: 100 Years of Russian Theatre Design. Jon Farris, a distinguished local Equity actor and the chair of the Department of Theatre at Denison University, joined the department during Spring Quarter to play the title role in our production of King Lear. Jon received many glowing reviews for his portrayal, including being named runner-up for Best Actor in Michael Grossberg’s annual awards for the Columbus theatre season. During the quarter Jon also led a discussion on his

career and his approach to acting Shakespeare. Martha Mountain served as the Guest Lighting Designer for the Spring 2000 production of King Lear. Martha and Lear’s director Sue Ott Rowlands worked together on The Chemistry of Change at the Round House Theatre in Washington, DC, last fall. Martha designs extensively for the John F. Kennedy Center Education Department’s Youth and Family Programs. She has a BA in Theatre and Drama from the College of William and Mary and an MFA in Stage Design from Northwestern University. She teaches lighting design at George Mason University and is a member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829 (IATSE). Some of her upcoming projects include A Stephen Sondheim 70 th Birthday Concert at the Library of Congress, Monteverdi’s L’incoronatione di Poppea for the Wolf Trap Opera Company, and Ibsen’s The Lady from The Sea for Theatre of the 1st Amendment. While in the Department of Theatre, Martha Mountain attended Sue Ott Rowlands Theatre 610 class, Advanced Directing, where she talked to students about the director/designer relationship from the designer’s point of view.

Above right: Eartha Kitt (center) speaks with undergraduates David Price (left) and Anthony Peeples (right), and MFA actress Naomi Hatsfelt during her visit to the Wexner Center in October.

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OSU By

Theatre’s Kristin

Crouch,

Summer 2000 saw the first year of the London Theatre Program. Eighteen undergraduate and graduate students gathered in London for an intensive five-week immersion into the London theatre scene. Housed in the halls of University College London in Camden Town, students had convenient access to all the theatres, pubs, clubs, restaurants, and tourist attractions that central London has to offer.

British 2nd

YYear ear

Other hands-on workshops included a Shakespeare workshop with Royal Shakespeare Company actor Stephen Simms in Stratford-upon-Avon, where we spent a few days seeing Royal Shakespeare Company productions and touring the theatre and the town itself. PHD student Kristin Crouch had the opportunity to interview actors David Tennant and Alexandra Gilbreath regarding their performances in the RSC’s latest production of Romeo and Juliet. Back

Invasion Ph.D.

Student

Clearwater at the Barbican, Dr. Ferris arranged for us to have an opportunity to talk with the cast and the director, most of who were from Trinidad.

During most evenings, we attended the theatre! We experienced all forms of London theatre, from the larger, subsidized institutions such as the Royal National Theatre, to the smaller, intimate spaces of a fringe or pub theatre. The list of shows attended is long: House, Garden, All My Not just for actors, this program also Sons, Ken Campbell (National Theatre); attracted directors, designers, PHD Orpheus Descending (Donmar students, a journalism student and even Warehouse); Antipodes and The an electrical engineer! Students had Tempest (The New Globe); The Comedy the opportunity to take classes such of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, Henry IV, as Theatre 367.01: Self-Images of Pt.1 (Royal Shakespeare Company); The America On Stage, Theatre 674: Pirates of Penzance (Regents Open Air Contemporary British Theatre, and Theatre); Mr. Peter’s Connections Independent Research projects. Some (Almeida); Clearwater (Barbican); My of the independent topics pursued this Zinc Bed (Royal Court); Martin Night summer included: Notting Hill Carnival; (King’s Head Pub); and The Witches of Audience Engagement Techniques of Eastwick (Theatre Royal Drury Lane). Street Theatre Performers; We were privileged to see many Collaborative and Devised Works; previews, opening nights, and even Movement Theatre and British Movement Training; Comparative British The participants in the inaugural London Theatre world premieres. Some of the casts and American Lighting Design; British- Program: (seated) Mayura Bisineer, Jennifer Pettibone, included well-known actors such as st Asian Theatre; Jessica Tandy’s London Katie Whitlock (1 row) J. Briggs Cormier, Stacey Brown, Helen Mirren, Julia Ormond, Catherine Vicki Horning, Tonia Krueger, Kristin Crouch, Tera Cozart, McCormack, Julie Walters, Tom Career; Expanding the Costumer’s Role Rebecca Graves, Tatjana Longerot, Kari Geppert (2nd row) Wilkinson, Steven Macintosh, and in Theatre; Comparative British Design Greg Maier, Grace Marion, Kris Jones, Allyson Rosen, Vanessa Redgrave! On nights off, many Spaces; and documenting the Shared Carie DeVito, Deborah Titus (3rd row) Lesley Ferris students chose to attend performances Experience Theatre Company. such as circuses, street theatre, or musicals. A typical day of the London program included in London, we had a Shakespeare workshop of a different sort at the New Globe. At the theatre coursework in the mornings, and guest speakers or theatre workshops in the Globe we learned many fascinating It was a successful inaugural year and if early afternoons. Dr. Valerie Lucas spoke on techniques of the original staging of plays in there is continued student interest, we hope Contemporary Shakespeare in British Shakespeare’s London. Later in London, we to offer the program again in Summer 2001. Theatre, and Dr. Patrick Campbell spoke on also had a visit from Trestle Theatre Company. The program is co-sponsored by the Office of International Education. Live Art. Tim Etchells, Artistic Director of the One of the company members led our provocative company Forced Entertainment, students in an entertaining mask workshop. spoke about the process of devising theatre. Participants also heard about acting from All over London, we had the privilege of Robin Soans, one of the cast members of touring the backstage of various theatres, the Royal National Theatre’s production of and Dr. Ferris arranged for many influential The London Cuckolds. David Gale showed managers and directors to speak to us about intriguing footage of the work of his company, the inner workings of the theatres. We Lumiere and Sons. Ruth Tompsett shared her toured the British Theatre Museum in Covent expertise in the area of the Notting Hill Garden, the Royal National Theatre at the Carnival. Ms. Tompsett provided a behind- South Bank. At the Royal Court, not only did the-scenes peek when participants took a we get a tour, but we also got to talk to the trip to the Mahogany Mas Camp to see the Managing Director (OSU alumna Diane amazing carnival costumes being put Borger), the Literary Department, and the together. We saw the costumes in action as head of lighting Joanna Trane. At the we participated in the unforgettable National, several of the designers also had excitement of Notting Hill Carnival, where the opportunity to talk with Mark Jonathan, Diane Borger, Managing Director of the Royal several students traveled with and danced head of lighting, and learn more about Court Theatre and OSU alumna (center), comparative Lighting Design in Britain and answers questions after leading students on a with the Mahogany Mas band itself! the United States. After the performance of tour of the Royal Court’s facilities.

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Faculty and Staff News Joe Brandesky spent Autumn ‘99 and Winter ’00 working as Guest Curator for the “Spectacular St. Petersburg: One Hundred Years of Russian Theatre Design” exhibit. It opened at the Columbus Museum of Art in November 1999 and in late January moved to the

Nikolai K. Kalmakov’s costume sketch for Women from “Khelperic,” 1913, one of the many theatrical designs featured in the Spectacular St. Petersburg exhibit.

McNay Museum of Art in San Antonio, TX, where it ran through March 2000. Brandesky gave gallery tours and lectures at both sites during the year. The CDROM catalog developed by Brandesky for the exhibit was published by the Columbus Museum of Art in November 1999. He served as Co-Curator for another exhibit, “Metaphor and Irony: Czech Theatre Design 1920-99,” which opened on July 27, 2000 and ran through mid-October. The OSU – Lima Campus Study Tour to London and York was coled by Brandesky in July 2000. He chaired a panel for the Comparative Drama Conference held at OSU and also attended the 2000 Barnett Arts and Public Policy Symposium “Going Global: Negotiating the Maze of Cultural Interactions” during the Spring quarter. Brandesky designed the lights for the Autumn 1999 production of Once Upon a Time in the World and directed the Winter 2000 chamber theatre production of Dear Liar. He was named OSU – Lima Campus Outstanding Faculty Scholar for 1999-2000. Congratulations, Joe! Stratos Constantinidis saw two of his research projects appear in print this academic year. The first one, Greece in Modern Times: An Annotated Bibliography of Works Published in

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English in 22 Academic Disciplines During the Twentieth Century (Lanham & London: Scarecrow Press, 2000) is a 687page volume that contains 3,908 annotated entries. The second one, Greek Film, is a 227-page special issue of the Journal of Modern Greek Studies (May 2000) published by the Johns Hopkins University Press. It is the first volume of this or any other journal published in English to be dedicated in its entirety to the study of Greek film in the twentieth century, and it reflects the various ways Greek film is perceived and discussed internationally at the end of this century. Stratos also corrected the galley proofs of his translation of The New Woman for Oxford University Press. The New Woman is a four-act play written by Kalliroi Siganou-Parren, and was first produced in Athens in 1907. Stratos finally made up his mind and signed a contract for his book, Theatre Without Sex? which he completed last year. One of his doctoral students, Kaizaad Kotwal, finished his dissertation in the spring of 2000. Stratos presented three research papers this academic year. The first one, “Performances of Provincialism in Germany: Victory by Loula Anagnostaki,” he presented at the MLA Annual Convention in Chicago on December 27, 1999. The second one, “How to Edit an International Annotated Bibliography with a National Focus,” he presented at the Symposium of the Modern Greek Studies Association at Princeton University on November 4, 1999. Stratos was also invited to give a talk on “Ways of Show-casing Modern Greek Culture Beyond the Classroom.” The Ministry of Culture of Greece sponsored his presentation and it took place in the Old University of Athens in Greece on March 17, 2000. Stratos served as the Director of the Comparative Drama Conference (see story page 15). He was elected to serve as the editor of the journal Text & Presentation, the journal devoted to the conference proceedings, for the next four years. Stratos Constantinidis completed his three-year term on the Faculty Concerns Committee of the College of the Arts, which he chaired for the past two years. He was also elected to serve on the OSU Faculty Senate. He was elected to serve on the Executive Board of the Modern Greek Studies Association of America and Canada for the next three years.

Stratos is currently working on a research paper on the technological infrastructure that supports the ideology of melodrama. In his spare time, he is rethinking and revising passages of his translation of Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound. As a member of the Dance Heritage Coalition board, Nena Couch was very busy with DHC business including the National Dance Heritage Leadership Forum, a three-part leadership initiative to develop an agenda for dance documentation and preservation for the next ten years. The Forum has brought together a wide range of individuals active in the performing arts, humanities, and technology to address a variety of issues related to collecting, preserving, and documenting dance. The Forum will set forward issues concerning documentation and preservation that must be identified as an integral part of our cultural policy. With Dr. Alan Woods, Nena attended the American Theatre Critics Association meeting in Louisville, Kentucky. It was a big spring for awards: In April Nena attended the William Inge

Festival in Independence, Kansas, where the OSU-administered Margo Jones Medal and Award was given to George Keathley of the Missouri Repertory Theatre. In June, she attended two separate awards ceremonies in New York, the Theatre Library Association book awards honored Al Hirschfeld and the Sidney Kingsley/Madge Evans awards for outstanding contributions to the theatre given by the Dramatists Guild to a playwright and an actress, where Donald Margulies and Marian Seldes were honored. Nena was on research leave

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this summer, working on several projects on eighteenth-century dance. Last summer Larry Evans directed and choreographed productions of A Grand Night for Singing and The Music Man at the Renaissance Theatre in Mansfield, and taught Ed T&L 633. This summer at the Renaissance Theatre was director and choreographer for Sing for Your Supper and Oklahoma!. Richard Keith continues as technical director/scene designer, and also designed the scenery for the summer Renaissance productions in Mansfield. Joseph Fahey spent the year as the Administrator for Theatre 100, while he diligently finished his dissertation. Lesley Ferris began the year preparing for directing Angels in America, Part Two: Perestroika for the fall season. She was able to miss a few days rehearsal when she flew to St. Louis in October for the opening of the exhibit “Masks: Faces of Culture” at the St. Louis Art Museum. Lesley served as the Western theatre consultant for this major exhibit which features over 150 masks from all over the world. She helped the curators to acquire various masks for the theatre section of the exhibit and she wrote an

From left to right, David Edelman of CATCO, Joe Martin from the Cleveland Playhouse, Mary Tarantino, Fernando Saez, and Dan Gray. With the help of the Ohio Arts Council, these five met in Havana, Cuba during the summer to discuss the possibility of future partnerships.

essay, “The Mask in Western Theatre: Transformation and Doubling” for the book that accompanied the exhibit, also titled, Masks: Faces of Culture, published by Harry N. Abrams in 1999. The exhibit traveled to Houston, Texas and the Field Museum in Chicago. In March 2000 Lesley co-chaired (with Les Wade from Louisiana State University) the Theatre

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History symposium that is part of the MidAmerica Theatre Conference in St. Louis. There were over 40 papers given during this busy conference which was titled “Theatre and the Community of Strangers.” She was also invited to become a co-editor of the anthology of plays entitled Types of Drama: Plays and Contexts for its 8th edition. Other editors include Sylvan Barnet (Tufts University and the original creator of the textbook) and Gerald Rabkin (Rutgers University). It is published by Addison, Wesley, and Longman. She also spent time on various grant proposals for the department and helped spearhead the first London Theatre Program cosponsored by the department and the Office of International Education. She worked with Alan Woods to plan the 30th Anniversary celebration of The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail. In April she attended the NAST Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dan Gray had another busy year! After returning from the Prague Quadrennial in June, he began working in earnest on David Nixon’s adaptation of Dracula for BalletMet Columbus. Dracula opened to glowing reviews on Halloween and will become part of the BalletMet repertory for years to come. Besides the Department’s production of Viet Rock, Dan also designed The Last Night of Ballyhoo for The Human Race Theatre in Dayton, A Raisin in the Sun for CATCO and Stephen Sondheim’s Passion for the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra at the historic Southern Theatre. He continues to work on developing a CD ROM for use in his Decorative Arts class. Dan also looks forward to his SRA during spring 2001 which will allow him to begin working in digital 3D modeling. At this years Design Expo at the National USITT conference in Denver, Dan’s scenic design for the Department’s 1999 production of Feral Music was selected from over 90 entries to be featured in the Expo Catalog published in the upcoming issue of TD&T (USITT’s national publication). In June, Dan took an informational trip to Havana, Cuba. As a member of an OAC-OSU sponsored initiative with the Ludwig Foundation in Havana, he saw mucho teatro and explored many possible international exchanges with artists from Ohio and Cuba. Needless to say, Dan looks forward to the exciting potential of this project for OSU and our students. Bruce Hermann was active performing in Columbus. He appeared as Pato in

The Beauty Queen of Leenane for the Irish and American Theatre Company; was in the ensemble for CATCO’s 2000 Shorts Festival in the spring and played Milo Tindle in Sleuth, their summer production. In the fall of 1999 he directed the two fall touring shows, Roasted Shoes and Roasted Shoes…Toasted Tootsies and in the winter of 2000 he directed the high school touring show Sobering Thoughts and the Thurber Theatre production of The Hostage. Anthony D. Hill spent the summer of 1999 revising the two courses he teaches on cultural diversity. He supports several community arts committees. He is a member of several organizations outside the University, including the Play Selection Advisory Board at the King Arts Center and Dreambuilders Playwriting Contest Committee, Cincinnati, Ohio. Anthony presented a paper at a conference on ethnic diversity in Seattle, Washington. He received an SRA during spring quarter 2000 to work on his second book The History of Theatre in Seattle Washington. As a co-founder of “Hit The Ground Running,” a Columbus based African American theatre company, he continues to work with Sheila Middlebrook on original scripts. He directed Ms. Middlebrook in a production of Report to Duty, a play on the contributions of African American’s during WW II presented at the Ohio Historical Society Museum as part of the 1940s retrospective series. He did three radio interviews (WOSU), one with Woodie King, play producer/director; another with Sheila Middlebrook, co-founder of the “Hit the Ground Running Theatre”; and the other

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with Tom Nealeigh, Cultural Coordinator at the Ohio Historical Museum. Also at The Theatre Research Institute, he interviewed Woodie King and Ted Lange during their residencies in the Department. Maria Ignatieva wrote and directed Once Upon a Time in the World for the annual Autumn Children’s Theatre production at OSU-Lima. She also directed All This and Moonlight in the Spring. She published the survey of 285 years of St. Petersburg theatre history in the CD-ROM catalog of the exhibit “Spectacular St. Petersburg” that was at the Columbus Museum of Art November 1999 – January 2000. Maria also published a review on Laurence Senelick’s book The Chekhov Theatre in Theatre History Studies 2000, volume 20. At the Comparative Drama Conference, Maria chaired a panel. Maria received a research grant from the OSU-Lima Research Committee supporting research in Finland, which she combined with her participation in the VI International Congress of Slavic and East European Studies in Tampere, Finland. Jim Knapp continues his responsibilities as the Production Coordinator. He was the Technical Director for the 1999 – 2000 productions of Marriage and The Hostage. He has been constructing a new web site for the Department and this fall he updated the computer lab. Dennis Parker, Resident Costume Designer, has had a busy year mentoring the four current students in the MFA Design program who are specializing in costume design. His creative work included designing two costumes that were featured in the Contemporary Music Festival 2000 sponsored by the School of Music in February. In January, he designed the costumes for the highly successful production of The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine at CATCO. His costume renderings for the Fall 1998 production of The Cherry Orchard were exhibited at the American College Theatre Festival in Milwaukee at the beginning of winter quarter. In March, he exhibited work in “The Skene,” an exhibition of design and technical work from the department, sponsored by the Undergraduate Theatre Advisory Committee. During Spring Break he organized a study-tour for costume design students in New York City. While there, he had the opportunity to meet with Brian Russman and Ross Manning, former students who are actively engaged in costume design and construction work for Broadway and Off-Broadway. This

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spring he designed the costumes for the department’s production of King Lear. He also was asked to present a lecture to the History of Art class, HA 450, entitled “Artistic Materials and Techniques.” Immediately following the closing of King Lear he had a cataract removed from his right eye. He now sees everything more clearly! Scott Phillips has completed a one-year appointment to the HLC faculty, temporarily replacing Beth Sullivan who has been serving as Associate Dean in the College of the Arts. In addition to his regular teaching load, Scott supervised dramaturgs and coordinated the AfterWords post-show discussions. During the academic year Scott continued his freelance work as a theatre critic for

the Columbus Dispatch and presented a paper on working class theatre and music-hall audiences for the Mid-America Theatre Conference in St. Louis. Scott’s summer was a busy one - spent preparing to move to Alabama where he accepted a tenure-track position as assistant professor in the Department of Theatre at Auburn University. Thomas Postlewait, professor of theatre history, continues to serve as director of Graduate Studies. He is currently directing four dissertations. Two of the students, Esther Kim and Joseph Fahey, completed their doctoral study in the summer of 2000. For the new OSU humanities institute, Professor Postlewait submitted a proposal, “The Performance of Culture/ The Cultures of Performance,” which was selected as the scholarly theme of the Institute for 2000-2001. He was then selected as a Fellow of the Institute, spring 2001. Beyond the campus, Professor Postlewait keeps equally busy. He is completing his term as Chair of Research and Publications in the Association for Theatre in Higher

Education. His major task has been to renegotiate the publishing contracts with Johns Hopkins University Press for Theatre Journal and Theatre Topics. He is also completing a term on the Executive Committee of the International Federation for Theatre Research, heading a couple of committees. In November 1999 he ran a seminar on theatre autobiography and biography at the annual meeting of ASTR. In March 2000 he was invited by the Department of English, Tel Aviv University, to deliver the prestigious Porter Lectures. He focused on issues in English Renaissance theatre historiography. He has completed an essay (“London Theatre, 1895-1918”) for volume three of the Cambridge History of British Theatre. During summer 2000 he “finally” wrapped up his book on theatre historiography, which Cambridge UP will publish. He also continues to serve as editor of the award-winning book series, “Studies in Theatre History and Culture,” at the University of Iowa Press. Four new Iowa books appeared this last year, ranging in topics from Cliff Ashby’s study of classical Greek theatre to Anat Feinberg’s biography of the director/playwright George Tabori (a major figure in contemporary German theatre). Professor Postlewait’s “free time” is committed to seeing – in reverse order of emotional involvement – film, theatre, opera, and grandchildren who live in Boston, Seattle, and Italy. He already has his tickets for the Seattle Opera production of Wagner’s Ring in 2001. And his extended family will have a reunion in Seattle next summer. Not bad – opera, family, and the beautiful northwest. Joy Reilly continued for a second year as Director of Undergraduate Studies and directed the all-undergraduate show – a revival of the first rock musical Viet Rock created by Megan Terry and her ensemble of actors with Joe Chaikin at the Open Theatre in 1965. As there was no score for the music, and Joy’s production included a live rock band, Megan Terry suggested that Joy create a new score, which she did, hiring singer, composer, writer, and dancer Brian Granger of the English Deparrtment’s Creative Writing Program. Undergraduate student Sam Friedman served as Music Director and brought in the rock band, Quanah Parker. The ensemble was choreographed by Jeanine Thompson, who served as Movement Director on a clever set by Dan Gray that included the band on stage in a jeep. It was a very emotionally charged and exciting piece that played for three weeks during May. An exhibit that focused

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on the Kent State shootings and OSU footage was prepared by Dramaturgs Maura Phelan and Matt Owens. Joy was thrilled that Megan Terry invited the Department of Theatre to send in a digital videotape of this production to be her official archival copy of Viet Rock as the 1965 production could not be filmed. A copy is available to be viewed in the TRI and Joy has kept a copy. In October 1999, Joy was invited to attend the first World Congress of

Senior Theatre held in the cultural arts center in Cologne, Germany as a guest of the German government. Joy’s production of the musical I Was Young, Now I’m Wonderful, performed by Grandparents Living Theatre, (directed by Nancy Nocks) was one of the highlights of the week-long conference that featured performances by over 350 performers from 20 countries. Joy also represented the United States on a panel for the Welt Alten Theater Festival 1999 and Conference on the Image of Aging in the Media. Joy is currently planning the first international Conference and Festival in the USA to be hosted in August 2002 at OSU. Columbus Children’s Theatre, a 36-year-old company in Columbus, commissioned Joy to write its first musical for a world premiere August 7 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to be performed by its Young Adult Company (ages 16-21). The Druid Tree (the first Druid musical - “a Celtic myth, with ancient and modern archetypes, explores our relationship with nature, friendship, and caring for the environment”) was created out of Joy’s background and interest in all things Celtic. The musical had three weeks of previews in Columbus and then went to Scotland with seven OSU students involved as actors or musicians. Joy never stopped re-writing. She says “it’s the most

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exhausting thing I’ve ever done” but it is also the most rewarding new work I’ve written.” Sue Ott Rowlands, Associate Professor of Theatre and Head of the Acting/ Directing Area, directed Marlane Meyer’s new play, The Chemistry of Change, for Round House Theatre in Washington, DC in September of 1999. In January of 2000, she directed L.A. actor Ted Lange (best known for his role as Isaac on the Love Boat television series) in a new one-man play, Behind the Mask. Based on the life of Paul Laurence Dunbar, Behind the Mask was developed and premiered by the OSU Department of Theatre as a national touring production. The play subsequently had a run at San Jose State University in April 2000 (see story page 7). In spring, 2000, Sue directed the Department of Theatre production of King Lear starring Equity guest artist Jon Farris as Lear. Chair of the Department of Theatre at Denison University, Jon worked with Sue in Nixon’s Nixon at CATCO in 1998. During the summer Sue collaborated with Jaroslav Malina over designs for the fall production of Orpheus Descending. She was awarded a Department and College development grant to travel to London to see Helen Mirren in Orpheus Descending at the Donmar Warehouse. An associate member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, Sue continues to serve as Artistic Director of the Cleveland Women’s Theatre Project.

in Boardman, Ohio. In January, Mark served as one of the Adjudicators on the Design Exhibition that was central to the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival for Region III held at the Pabst Theatre in Milwaukee. In March, he once again led the Ohio State crew in setting up the Prague Exhibit for its final showing at the USITT National Conference in Denver. Also, while at that conference, Mark presented a master class on “Interviewing Skills for the Interviewee” to an overflow crowd. Mark is also at work on planning for the 8th Biennial Theatre Technology Exhibition in Long Beach, California in March 2001. He also will see both Cedarville and Boardman open in the fall and has begun work on the Mansfield Playhouse renovation study as his next architectural challenge. Beth Sullivan spent an active first year as the Associate Dean in the College of the Arts. While the faculty, students and staff greatly miss seeing Beth in Drake on a regular basis, she has been a wonderful advocate for theatre at the college level. She is in charge of research and faculty development, technology initiatives, and coordinating departmental and college grants that go forward to the university. She has done a marvelous job of keeping Arts faculty informed of various research and grant opportunities. She still managed to find some time to co-chair a seminar (with Charlotte Channing, Unversity of Texas, Austin) at ASTR in

Joe Scharrer made his annual pilgrimage to the Stratford Theatre Festival in Stratford, Canada where he managed to see nearly their entire season. He also attended the League of Historic American Theatres conference in San Francisco, August 1 to 6, 2000. Mark Shanda’s biggest news of the year is his Performance artist Tim Miller (center) teaches a masterclass for family’s new home, which faculty and students during his residency with us in October. he, Ginny, Ann (11), and Kay (5) moved into on June 12, 2000, as a way to really celebrate the end November, entitled “Spacing Out: between Space and of the school year! During the year he Feminism kept himself busy serving as Technical Performance.” As well, she remains Director for King Lear, Angels in America, active advising graduate students and and Mississippi Stories. In addition he working with the University Honors and continued his consulting work on the new Scholars Program. Center for Student Life Theatre on the campus of Cedarville University, and the The 1999-2000 season brought a range new Boardman Performing Arts Center of projects for Mary Tarantino, beginning

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with a lighting design at the Wexner Party Much Ado About Nothing at the Cincinnati Plays presented in the York Cathedral, the Barn for the celebration associated with Playhouse in the Park. He then worked Abbey, the Oberammergau Passion Play, the New Albany Classic. In addition, Mary on the second production of their season the Teatro Olimpico, La Scala, and the designed Vaud-Villities 2000 at Vets The Glass Menagerie. During the same Drottningholm Court Theatre. He also Memorial, Stephen Sondheim’s Passion quarter, Phil worked on OSU’s production attended performances in England, for ProMusica with colleague Dan Gray at of Angels in America Part Two: Ireland, France, Germany, and the lovely Southern Theatre, and a new Perestroika giving voice and dialect Scandinavia. In addition, he is working work with Durham, N.C.’s “Archipelago” assistance as well as choreographing the on an article for the Dictionary of Literary company. The piece, entitled Snow, was fights. He repeated this trick on a grander Biography, and is in the planning stages developed by the entire ensemble scale in the Spring, coaching text and of a book on Asian-American drama on (including designers), and led by choreographing fights for King Lear. This campus. psychotherapist Nor Hall and Jungian summer, Phil has returned to the Utah analyst Robert Bosnak. For the Shakespearean Festival – this year’s In May 2000, Alan Woods interviewed department, Mary designed Angels in recipient of a Tony Award as best Maya Angelou for several hours. Dr. America, Part Two. Most recently Mary Regional Theatre. Phil actually got to hold Angelou was scheduled to deliver a major returned from an exciting trip to Cuba, the award. It’s fairly heavy and the address at Ohio State, and Alan conducted a telephone interview with her. supported through the Ohio Arts Council. The lecture was cancelled due to While there, she participated in a strike at the University, so Alan many discussions with theatre drove to Cincinnati; Dr. Angelou directors, actors, playwrights, was generous with her time, and designers and technicians, and with her rich memories of her year had the opportunity to view a wide as a member of the Robert Breen range of theatre performances production of Porgy and Bess. In (imagine The Crucible in a strange combination of events, Spanish). In a continuing a reporter from Miami called Nena relationship with the Couch the same week, checking Schottenstein Center, students in on the truth of a claim by an elderly Mary’s advanced lighting course man she’d interviewed in a developed and presented a homeless shelter, who claimed to dynamic scenic and lighting have been Sportin’ Life. It turned proposal for the off-spring out to be Earl Jackson, who commencement activities, under consideration, in the campus Mary Tarantino guides MFA lighting design student Kris Jones indeed toured as Sportin’ Life for arena. During the spring Mary during an automated lighting demonstration for the College of the last two years of the production. The wedding of Jackson and worked hard to develop a research the Arts’ meeting in the Roy Bowen Theatre. Helen Thigpen in Moscow was partner proposal with Vari-Lite of widely featured in the press in 1956, and Dallas, Texas. The proposal, entitled medallion really spins. he’s prominently remembered by Dr. “Automated Lighted Education Assistance Pilot Program,” was a detailed Late last summer and into the fall Angelou in her second volume of account of how the Moving Lights Costume Shop Supervisor Julia Weiss memoirs, Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Laboratory could be developed. Her hard had the opportunity to work with the Merry Like Christmas. Dr. Woods also work paid off: Vari-Lite awarded their Wexner Center and assist with the returned to the stage as a performer this partnership initiative to Ohio State (see installation of the exhibit “Julie Taymor: spring – three times, no less! He and page 17 for more details). Playing With Fire,” a retrospective of Ann Alaia Woods played roles in a staged Taymor’s work. Julia helped restore and reading of a new play for a collective of Jeanine Thompson provided Viewpoints mount many of the costumes. She worked women writers, Dramathena, in April, expertise for Angels in America in the fall, with many of Taymor’s collaborators and when he also appeared in the staged creating movement motifs for the Angel met several times with Julie Taymor reading of The Night Thoreau Spent in and the street people. She herself. Julia will be assisting with the Jail, recreating Corwin Georges’s role as choreographed the movement mounting of the exhibit in its additional a drunk passerby (see story p. 18). And sequences in Viet Rock in the spring. venues of Washington, D.C. and Chicago, he did a voiceover series of slogans for During the winter she supervised two MFA IL. In the fall, Julia designed the costumes Joy Reilly’s production of Viet Rock done students - Robin Gordon and Michael for the Department’s production of Angels originally, according to playwright Megan Karp - on their new works performances. in America Part Two: Perestroika. This Terry, by Joseph Chaikin. He plans to rest She invited solo artist Robert Post to work summer she went to Thailand, to visit with on these laurels for a few years. He was also the dramaturg for the CATCO with these students. She is preparing to family. production of Sleuth, which opened in July. take her newest solo work, Breaking the Current, on tour and has developed her David Williams’ book Misreading the publicity material for that. Jeanine also Chinese Character was published by worked on bringing Marcel Marceau to Peter Lang, Inc. in February, and in May, Ohio State again for an extended he presented a paper in Malaga, Spain, residency in spring 2001. on the history of Asian-American drama. In the summer, he went on a tour of the Phillip Thompson began the 1999 – 2000 great theatres of Europe. He saw the academic year coaching a production of reconstructed Globe, the York Mystery

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A l u m n i Before 1960 Harry G. Carlson (MA 1955, PHD 1958) continues to be a major scholar of contemporary Swedish theatre, which began with his dissertation at Ohio State 42 years ago. The current issue of Western European Stages is devoted to Swedish theatre, and includes three articles written (or co-written) by Harry, who’s also the co-editor of the journal, published by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the City University of New York.

The marquee for the off Broadway production of The Waverly Gallery, starring Eileen Heckart.

Eileen Heckart (BA 1942) earned rave reviews for her starring turn in The Waverly Gallery off Broadway, plus she was featured in an article in the New York Times on April 2, 2000. Her performance also garnered her a Drama Desk award for Best Actress in a Play. At the 2000 Tony Awards, Eileen received a special Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre. Congratulations Eileen! 1960s Steve Conrad (BA 1969) reports that he’s resumed his acting career after almost three decades in the military (he retired recently as a Colonel) – and he has come nearly full circle. The first play he did after high school was at the Players Club in Columbus, Ohio, when Professor Emeritus Dave Ayers directed Take Her, She’s Mine. Steve just performed in The Fantasticks in Augusta, Georgia – and Dave Ayers was in The Fantasticks at CATCO in Columbus. If the first actor cast as Huckleby

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hadn’t dropped out of the Georgia production, Steve and Dave would have played the same role – the Shakespearean actor, Henry. Steve just played in Funny Money, a British farce. Steve noted that he used his theatrical training often in the military, having attended Ohio State on a University Musical Theatre Scholarship awarded in large part because of Dr. Roy Bowen’s support. Joanne Rohrbough Parady (BA 1964) and her husband Ron Parady (MA 1970) are currently living in Connecticut, with Joanne’s children Elizabeth and Nathanial. Joanne is the Director of The Movement Center, which offers creative movement and music classes and activities for infants, toddlers and parents. Joanne has also done work in New York on stage, television, and with a number of regional theatres. Ron is an actor (AEA/AFTRA/SAG) and has worked all over the country. His career highlights include Candida, on Broadway, with Joanne Woodward and the national tour of Death of a Salesman with Hal Holbrook. He has also been on numerous T.V. shows, including Law and Order, Hill Street Blues, and As the World Turns. He has worked at the Goodspeed Opera, The Goodman Theatre, Yale Repertory, and the Cleveland Playhouse, among others. Cynthia Shore Robins (MA 1969) began life after OSU (in 1969) making $2.25 per hour writing entertainment publicity. This brought her to the attention of an editor at the Columbus Dispatch. In 1973, she was hired as a TV log “girl” and rock critic. Within six months, she became the paper’s TV columnist. In 1977, she was hired by the San Francisco Examiner. In the course of her career, Cynthia has been the designated celebrity interviewer, a TV critic, the society columnist and she is now the Fashion Editor. Cynthia has written four books and is in the process of writing two more that should be published this year. She has two sons who live in Columbus. Harlan is a partner with the law firm of Baker and Hostetler. Daniel is married, the father of two, and a financial planner.

Hollis Huston (PHD 1975) continues his active career: most recently, in a major supporting role in The Treatment, a Beijing Television and Film Arts Center production about a Chinese family living in America. It will open in China in December, then be distributed in the U.S. in 2001. Hollis was in Selkie by Laurie Brooks Gollobin at First Stage Milwaukee in December 1999; last spring, he was in Karim Alrawi’s A Gift of Glory at Meadow Brook Theatre in Rochester, Minnesota, directed by Debra Wicks. And he was spokesman for Deere & Co. in their live farm show presentations last summer and fall. Toni-Leslie James’s (BFA 1979) costume designs brighten the Broadway version of The Wild Party, produced by the NY Shakespeare Festival; she’s also designed the costumes for August Wilson’s King Headley II in its various regional theatre productions (most recently at the Goodman, Chicago), and will do the Broadway run. Appalachian State University presented Frank Mohler (BA 1965, MA 1969, PHD 1976) with its top research award, the 100 Scholars Research Award. The award recognizes a faculty member’s record of research/ scholarship/creative activity that has made, and continues to make, a significant contribution to his/her field, and supports an on-going project or new initiative. Frank was cited both for his creative activities as a set and lighting designer and his research activities including the creation of a web site. It is the first time that an Appalachian State arts faculty member has received a major named award from the graduate school. He received five other awards: UNC Board of Governors’ Excellence in Teaching Award; College of Fine and Applied Arts Outstanding Faculty Award; United States Institute for Theatre Technology - Southeast Outstanding Educator Award; United States Institute for Theatre Technology – Herbert Greggs Merit Award. He was also awarded a University Research Council Grant and an International Travel Research Grant. Frank and

We’re deeply saddened to report the death of Connie Wilson, wife of M. Glen Wilson (PHD 1957) in Greenville, North Carolina, in June. Alan and Ann Woods visited Connie and Glen last year in their wonderful retirement home, and enjoyed the bounty of the enormous garden carefully nursed by Glen and deliciously exploited by Connie. Connie and Glen spent many years in St. Paul, Minnesota, when Connie taught voice and performed, while Glen was on the faculty of Macalaster College 1970s Porter Anderson (MFA 1970s) is now a features editor with CNN.com, based in Atlanta.

Students in Alan Woods’ “Extending the Human Form: Experimentation with Puppetry” course demonstrate their final projects outside the Drake.

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encore is an annual newsletter of The Ohio State University Department of Theatre 1089 Drake Union 1849 Cannon Drive Columbus, OH 43210-1266 (614) 292-5821 fax (614) 292-3222 Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Lesley Ferris Editor and Layout/Design: Rachel E. Barnes Laura Sipe written and researched by the Faculty and Staff of the Department of Theatre. All Alumni and Friends information is collected from Alumni, friends, and other readers, gathered and processed at the Department of Theatre, researched, edited and placed in Encore. If you are a graduate of the Department of Theatre, a former faculty member, or a friend of OSU Theatre, please direct your attention to the questionnaire on the back cover.

wife Claudia took a research trip to the Czech Republic in the summer of 1999 and spent a week surveying the theatre at Cesky Krumlov. They also visited the court theatres at Litomysl and Mnichovo Hradiste and spent a week at the Prague Quadrennial where they encountered several OSU students who had helped build the US exhibit. Congratulations, Frank! Carolyn O’Donnell (MFA 1971) is a Professor of Theatre at Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey, where she teaches acting, speech and directs mainstage productions. She is the former Artistic Director of Stageworks Touring Company (1983 – 1997), which she founded in 1983. Stageworks specializes in creating plays from the oral histories of local people. She now teaches this technique at Rowan University. 1980s Kevin Connell (BFA 1987) finished a twoyear appointment at Cornell University where

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he taught Acting, Voice & Speech and acted as a guest Equity artist in the department’s theatre season. In the fall of 1999 he began a tenuretrack appointment, teaching at Marymount Manhattan College. He’s teaching four levels of acting: Sophomore/Modern Realism, Junior/ Language and Styles (Chekhov, Wilde, & Shaw), Senior/Shakespeare, and an acting elective called Beyond Naturalism, which explores scene study through the works of postmodern playwrights such as Mac Wellman, Charles Mee, Naomi Iizuka, Holly Hughes and others. The class also explores the elements of solo performance and the final project is a 10 minute solo performance piece. Kevin recently directed the Tony Kushner play Reverse Transcription, and he will direct Darrah Cloud’s O Pioneers! next spring on the main stage. Trish Cosgrove (MFA 1984) is now with HBO.com in New York. Varlo Davenport (MFA 1988) is teaching at the Uintah Basin Campus of Utah State University. His one-man show John Wesley Powell: The Last American Adventure recently won the Tributary Theater’s Western States

Two of the intricate costumes featured in the Nottinghill Gate Carnival parade. The Carnival was one part of the itinerary for the inaugural London Theatre Program (see story page 24). satisfying years in theatre (locally with CATCO), Catherine and Ken have retired to “real life.” They spend their evenings driving the girls to classes, auditions, rehearsals, and performances.

From left to right, Mary Tarantino, Phil Thompson, Robert Post, Zbynek Ondrich from Theatre Archa, Prague, Jeanine Thompson, and Lesley Ferris. Ondrich was in residence with the department in Autumn 1999. Playwriting Contest. He assisted in the development and writing of the musical CASSIDY: The Mostly True Story of Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch, which played outdoors in Utah last year. Varlo and (wife) Andrea have 5 kids, Hannah (9, going on 39) Ian (8), Zoe (7), Phoebe (5) and Alec (3). Catherine Cryan Erney (BFA 1981) lives in Columbus and is a Manger in Marketing and Research for NAI Welsh (Commercial Real Estate). Her husband Ken (took acting classes) is a paralegal with the law firm Havens Willis. Catherine and Ken have two daughters, Eleanor (10) and Rosalynd (8). Both girls attend Immaculate Conception School. Eleanor sings with the Columbus Childrens’ Choir and sang with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra at the Holiday Pops concert last December. Rosalynd is a dancer and performed two dance numbers at the 1999 Festival of Trees. After many

John Campbell Finnegan’s (MFA 1988) book, The Web Page Workbook: An HTML Primer, was published in October from Franklin Beedle and Associates. Anne Hering (MFA 1986) is the Executive Producer of Orlando Theatre Project, a professional theatre company in residence at Seminole Community College. Anne acts, directs and teaches for both OTP and SCC. Mary Illes (BFA 1984) was in the cast of the successful revival of The Music Man recently on Broadway. Randy Kaplan (PHD 1986) has donated materials from an exhibition on the stereotyping of Asian characters in American drama and theatre that she curated several years ago. This summer, these pieces were included in an exhibition in the Theatre Research Institute’s reading room. David Lander (BFA 1987) was the lighting designer for the off-Broadway show, Dirty Blonde, and got a rave review from Variety when the play opened in January 2000 at the New York Theatre Workshop. The show moved to Broadway in the spring and received 5 Tony nominations.

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Tracy Rhoades Manley (BFA 1989) has been busy moving around the country and she finally ended up in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tracy graduated from Florida State in 1993 with a graduate degree and she is proud to report she has been working ever since. She lived in Orlando for three years working at Nickelodeon Studios as a Scenic Artist. Now, her husband and his partner own a company, S&M Display (the two last names, Stanley and Manley…it kind of suits Las Vegas) that does sets, props, etc. for the entertainment industry as well as lots of industrial shows. David “Spike” McClure (MFA 1985) spent the 1999 holiday season playing Bob Cratchitt in Christmas Carol at the McCarter in Princeton, New Jersey. His wife was in previews for the Broadway revival of The Music Man. Spike is also doing voiceover work and raising young Henry. Chris Merrill (BA 1977, MA 1981) has relocated to Chicago, where he’s now designing web sites. He designs for an organization that maintains job-search related web sites and he also does independent sites. He recently launched a site for last year’s runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize in Photojournalism, Allan Detrich. Take a look at: http://www.allandetrich.com/ Todd Neal (MFA 1980) accepted the new position of Director of Musical Theatre Performance at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, where he is responsible for teaching four courses, and directing two mainstage musicals. Todd left his post in the Department of Fine Arts at Rutgers UniversityCamden to move to Kalamazoo. Annette Reid-Shamell, now Crump (BC 1985) is now working and living in Tokyo, in Project Management with Walt Disney Imagineering, building the new Tokyo DisneySeas Theme Park, adjacent to Tokyo Disneyland. Annette is in Project Management Planning and Scheduling, while her husband Chris is an Art Director on Arabian Coast, one of the highly themed Lands in the park. After it opens in the fall of 2001, Annette and Chris will return to California to work on the next big Theme Park project, whatever that is! Lori Robishaw (BA 1981) took a position with Americans for the Arts (the national arts advocacy organization). She moved from Los Angeles, where she was on the development team at the Mark Taper Forum, to Washington, and is now living in Alexandria, Virginia. Rob Roznowski (MFA 1989) is participating in the workshop of Kander and Ebb’s/Terence McNally’s new musical based on The Visit with Angela Lansbury and Philip Bosco. Stephen Schrum’s (MA 1983) essay, “Computer Applications and Resources” appears in the New Media chapter of the recently released Stage Directors Handbook:

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Opportunities for Directors and Choreographers, edited by David Diamond and Terry Berliner and published by Theatre Communications Group. Stephen’s new book, Theater in Cyberspace: Issues of Teaching, Acting, and Directing, was published by Lang in November. He continues to teach at the University of Charleston in West Virginia. David Schulz (MA 1989) has been a web producer for Microsoft since May of 1999. He completely re-designed his web site – take a look at http://www.speakeasy.org/~dvschulz/ . David’s smiling face, which graces ads for the Metro in Paris, is also now featured in Columbus Alive, the local weekly paper, in advertisements for the personals section. David’s “The Architecture of Conspicuous Consumption: Property, Class, and Display at Herbert Beerbohm Tree’s Her Majesty’s Theatre,” was the lead article in the October 1999 issue of Theatre Journal. Keith Shannon (BA 1989) received an MFA in Performance from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Spring 2000. He created a video installation FIVE POINTS, which was exhibited at Gallery 2, Chicago, and The Chicago Art Open in December 1999. He recently produced and acted the title role in the original play Johnny Valentine for The Navy Pier International Art Show, Chicago. Previous work included performing with Goat Island Summer School (by invitation) including a showcase at Gallery 2 and 1926 Halsted Gallery/Performing Space, Pegasus Players, Live-Bait Theatre, Light Opera Works and the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Keith can be reached at [email protected] Michael (PHD 1991) and Juli Swanson (MA 1988) produced the second summer of their Shakespeare & More Theatre Company of Central Indiana at Indianapolis’s Marian College (the director of theatre there is co-artistic director, with Michael) and Franklin College. Michael directed The Comedy of Errors, in which Juli played Dromio of Ephesus. Juli is also Managing Director of the company. The Indianapolis Star called Errors “very funny,” while NUVO, Indy’s main arts/news weekly, called the play “great theatre.” Michael and Juli continue in their 12th year at Franklin College, where Michael is Director of Theatre and Associate Professor of Fine Arts (theatre) and Juli is a long-term adjunct faculty member in Fine Arts (she teaches acting and speech). Michael directed How I Learned to Drive last fall and Clue: The Musical this spring. Juli directed W. S. Gilbert’s comedy Engaged, perhaps not staged since Michael directed it in the Thurber Theatre in fall 1985. 1990s Jon Arndt (BA 1998) is alive and well in Chicago. He arrived there summer of 1999 and started doing a great deal of auditioning, which finally paid off. In March 2000 he began

a film. He spends the winter as part of a kids touring show traveling the greater Chicago area. Mardia Bishop (PHD 1993) and Kevin Reeder have a new son: Matthew was born in June 2000, joining his older brother, Jack. Mardia presented Ronald Mielech’s (PHD 1974) play, The Dancers of Canaan, at Ohio Dominican College early in April, with great success. Ron’s play was premiered at the Horse Cave Theatre in Kentucky. After heading the Theatre program at Ohio Dominican College in Columbus, Mardia and family moved to Georgia Tech this fall.

Evan Bridenstine (PHD 1997) had been on the faculty of Ashland University in Ohio since August 1999. This fall, he returned to his undergraduate alma mater to begin a one-year appointment at Kent State University. After finishing coursework, Amy Taipale Canfield (PHD ABD) moved to the Rochester, New York area. She and Ken Canfield (MFA 1995) were married in Hiram, Ohio on July 24, 1999. Amy is currently teaching part-time in the Theatre program at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York and is also tutoring for the Monroe County schools. She is hoping to finish her dissertation soon. Ken Elston (MFA 1996) was elected to the board of the Illinois Theatre Association, and named chair of the University and College division. He is currently an Assistant Professor and Head of Stage Movement at Western Illinois University. Ken teaches classes in stage combat, mask characterization, mime, period styles, improvisation, general stage movement and sensory awareness. The freedom of Western’s curriculum in experimental classes has allowed Ken to create two new courses: Physicalizing Shakespearean Text and Improvisation for the Actor. At Western Illinois, Ken has choreographed Tommy, Big, and Godspell (which he also directed); he appeared in You Can’t Take it With You, and he directed Look Homeward Angel. Before

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landing in Illinois, Ken was in New York City. While there he directed (including the premiere of A Vow of Silence at the Jewish Rep and See You Next Tuesday for New Playwright’s Workshop), acted (including Measure for Measure at the Raw Space and various small film and television roles), produced (for both cabaret and the Broadway stage), choreographed (both dance and stage combat), and worked to reactivate the Oberon Theatre Ensemble, with his wife Molly Piper Elston (BA 1996) and other OSU alums. Regionally Ken has choreographed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

University in Chicago after a decade at Northern Illinois University.

church. They also ran a production of Beowulf in May 2000.

Michael Karp (BFA 1990, MFA 2000) completed his MFA, the highlight of which was his thesis performance, Barnum’s American Museum.

Wakeso Peterson (BA 1999) married his college sweetheart and is living in Toledo. Since graduation, he has been teaching 1st grade. He has also taught several acting classes for teenagers and has been doing choreography for different shows. Most recently he was the Assistant Director for the Christmas musical Black Nativity.

Roger Freeman (PHD 1998) has accepted a position at the University of Georgia, Athens.

Vince Landro (PHD 1997) moved across the state of Illinois. After spending one year at Southern Illinois University, he has accepted a job at Northern Illinois University, replacing OSU alum Chris Jones.

Corey Frey (BA 1992) is still teaching English in mainland China. Mary Beidler Gearen (MA 1990) directed a Broadway tryout/remount of her production of Alexandra Billings’ one-woman show Before I Disappear in September at Boston Center for the Arts’ The Theater Offensive “Out on the Edge Festival.” The show was originally developed in 1996, and produced in Chicago at Bailiwick Repertory Company, and enjoyed three extensions and rave reviews. Mary also assisted Warner Crocker in the direction of Pegasus Players’ The Kentucky Cycle, which garnered 10 Joseph Jefferson Citations including Best Director. Other directing projects in Chicago include a revival of Women of the Classics at Bailiwick, and Jesus Christ Superstar, Man of LaMancha, South Pacific, and Godspell at Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary. A veteran actress of Bailiwick, Mary was awarded two consecutive Chicago After Dark “Outstanding Achievement in Acting” Awards for her origination of the roles of Naomi in the new Chris Moore musical Son of Fire, and Ellen Dean in a new stage version of Wuthering Heights. She also enjoyed playing Martine in Chris Moore’s Pope Joan at Bailiwick, and again in the Michael Butler (Hair)-produced remount. Mary directed Lone Star at Bryant Lake Bowl Theatre, through October 1999. Anastasia Koumidou Hathaway (MFA 1997) and her husband Kirk are now the proud parents of Aris Hathaway, born October 22, 1999 at 5:13 p.m. Aris weighed in at 8.25 pounds. In April 2000, Amastasia presented at the Comparative Drama Conference. Michelle Huskey (BA 1996) has been working as a stagehand in Las Vegas since August 1996. She’s done union and non-union work, conventions, concerts, production shows like EFX, and a touch of Broadway tours. Recently, Michelle applied to and was accepted by the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada Las Vegas and she will begin classes Fall 2000. Chris Jones (PHD 1990) moved to DePaul

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Beth Kattelman (PHD 1999) successfully defended her dissertation, “Magic, Monsters and Movies: America’s Midnight Ghost Shows,” just before Thanksgiving, and received her doctorate at the Autumn commencement. Beth continues to manage one of the major Border’s Bookstores in the Columbus area.

J.B. Lawton (PHD 1998) and his wife Nina Webb-Lawton became the proud parents of a baby girl, Maura Caroline, seven pounds, nine ounces, born on May 4, 2000. Kim Lenz (MA 1992) is now in Japan teaching English.

M. Scott Phillips (PHD 1998) spent 1999 – 2000 teaching for the Department of Theatre, stepping in when E. Beth Sullivan was appointed Associate Dean of the College of the Arts. Scott has accepted a tenure track position at Auburn University, Alabama. Brian Rose (PHD 1993) was a Visiting Professor of Performing Arts at Adelphi University. He also taught for Cornell University, Queens College and NYU and he has been a Guest Artist at Ithaca College, the University of Pittsburgh, and Trinity University (San Antonio, TX). He is the author of Jekyll and Hyde Adapted (1996, Greenwood Press), in which he investigates how a single text, adapted many times in the past century, can serve to elucidate certain shifts in cultural attitudes. Brian has had a twenty-year acting career that spans three media and five continents. Kerry Shanklin (PHD 1991) was Beulah Levy in The Last Night of Ballyhoo at Weathervane Playhouse this summer.

Undergraduate and graduate lighting students display their proposal for a lighting design for commencement ceremonies in the Schottenstein Center.

Christina Markham (MFA 1996) directed A Company of Wayward Saints and Len Jenkins’ Dark Ride this year at St. Louis University, where she is on faculty. This past spring, she appeared professionally as Sally in Hothouse Theatre’s A Lie of the Mind. Megan Mateer (MA 1999) started the doctoral program at Bowling Green State University in the fall, staying firmly in Ohio! Nikki Ebright Peters (BA 1995) has a new son: Cameron Robert Peters was born on June 1, 1999 in England. Not content with being a mother, Nikki reports that she’s a member of the local amateur dramatics society called ALEC (Aldbourne Light Entertainment Club). At the first meeting she joined the committee, at the second she volunteered to be the Assistant Director for a millennium project staging of Godspell, which was staged in the village

Michael Steinberg (MFA 1998) lives in New York City with his dog, Nash, who just celebrated his first birthday. Michael is a permalancer (permanent freelancer) with Jack Morton Worldwide (formerly Caribiner International, before being bought out by Jack Morton), a brand communications agency, in their technical services department. He is currently assisting Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer on the upcoming Broadway production of Jane Eyre. Jeff Stephens (PHD 1995) returned to his roots in August, having accepted an offer from Oklahoma State University. He’s just completed a stint at Dakota Wesleyan University. Mia Tagano (formerly Michelle Sprinkles, BA 1993) went on to the University of Washington and received an MFA from their “professional actor training program” in 1997. That same year she moved to New York City. In 1998, she was fortunate enough to work for seven months at the Lincoln Center doing a play by A.R. Gurney called Far East directed by Daniel Sullivan. Mia spent the spring and summer of 2000 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts rehearsing Tantalus written by John Barton and directed by Sir Peter Hall. Tantalus is a 10 hour epic, a retelling of the Greek Myths and has an international cast (from Britain and the USA). They began rehearsals in March 2000, previewed in September and opened in October. A European

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tour is planned for 2001, beginning at the Royal Shakespeare Company and hopefully, culminating in Greece. Nothing is set in stone though...it’s a pretty big production and all of the funding is not yet secured. More info on the production can be found at www.denvercenter.org. John Taylor (PHD 1994) adjudicated High School and Community Theatre Acting Competitions at the Rocky Mountain Theatre Association’s Festival in Utah this winter. John did so well that he was elected Treasurer of the RMTA Board of Directors. The Adams State Theatre Department production of Arcadia was featured – John did dramaturgy work on it. Michael Jon Washer (BA 1994) was the Scenic Studio Supervisor for the Department of Theatre during the 1999 – 2000 season. This summer he served as the House Electrician at Polaris Ampitheatre. In the fall of 2000, he hit the road and toured with Pokemon! . Steven Weiss (PHD 1994) Steven joined the faculty at Coe College in Iowa this fall after a short stint at the University of Toledo. Mark Winchester (PHD 1995) continues his research activities on behalf of the TRI, inventorying the papers and files of Robert E. Lee in Southern California. In his day job, Mark is a Senior Analyst for Marketing and Communications of GATX Capital Corporation in San Francisco. 2000s Edna Mae Berkey (BA 2000) joined Giles Davies (MFA 1999) and Jeremy Dubin (MFA 1999) at the Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival after graduation. She has a full season contract

television or in films before you know it. In July, she landed the role of Julia in an independent feature length film of Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona.

school include teaching English and theatre as well as directing the school plays. To offset the low salary, the school is giving the Owens’ a rent-free house near campus.

Lindsay Casella (BA 2000) received an eightshow contract with Climb Theatre of Minneapolis for 2000 – 2001. She will be performing in touring productions of children’s theatre.

Carole Russo (MFA 2000) moved back to New York after graduation and immediately started rehearsals for Romeo and Juliet at a new Shakespeare Company in Suffolk County.

Jim Creighton (BA 2000) spent the summer taking classes at the Circle in the Square theatre in New York City. In the fall, he returned to Columbus to be in Closer with Laura Simpson at Reality Theatre. Robin Gordon (MFA 2000) was Lala Levy in The Last Night at Ballyhoo at Weathervane Playhouse in June/July 2000. She will spend the 2000 – 2001 season as an acting intern at CATCO. Aimee Greer (BA 2000) was hired as the Wardrobe Head for the summer season at Porthouse Theatre, which includes Biloxi Blues, Henry IV, and Ain’t Misbehavin’ . Joseph Fahey (PHD 2000) accepted a threeyear visiting professor position at Case Western Reserve University.

Sam Friedman (BA 2000) directed Stephen Schwartz’s Godspell this Summer, through the Actual Reality Theatre Company (ArtCo) in Cleveland. Since his graduation at the end of the Spring Quarter he has been employed as the full time artistic director at ArtCo.

Carney Gray Schuck (MFA 2000) has a contract with the St. Croix Festival Theatre in Wisconsin. In December 2000, he will play the Scrooge role in Inspecting Carol.

Matt Kari (MFA 2000) designed the set for Grease at Sleepy Holly Theatre in Bismark, North Dakota after receiving his degree in June. In the fall, he returned to Columbus and designed Unexpected Tenderness at Gallery Players and Charlotte’s Web at Otterbein. Esther Kim (PHD 2000) accepted a tenure track position at University of Illinois Champagne-Urbana. She will be teaching theatre and Asian American studies. Robert Krege (MFA 2000) became engaged while on a trip to Ireland, his graduation present from his future in-laws. Robert relocated to Chicago where he hopes to find lots of work as a designer.

(July 2000 to July 2001). She started as a Stage Manger and was promoted to Company Manager. She also hopes to assist the Artistic Director, and possibly do some assistant directing. Carrie Bradac (MFA 2000) moved to LA after graduation. She swears you will see her on

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Michael Mauldin (PHD ABD) produced The Bacchae at SW Missouri State. Sometime very soon, Michael swears, he’ll be announcing the completion of the dissertation. Jessica Morgan (MFA 2000) was Sunny Freitag in The Last Night at Ballyhoo at Weathervane Playhouse this summer. In the fall, Jessica moved to Cincinnati. In August, Matt Owens (MA 2000) and his wife DeAnn moved to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Matt accepted a teaching position at Wayland Academy. His responsibilities at the boarding

FRIENDS Amy Eddings is now a reporter with the public television station WNYC in Manhattan. Linda Eisenstein’s one acts, A Rustle of Wings and Pretzels & Longing, were performed in mid November by Love Creek Productions at the Creative Place Theatre in New York. Trish English was accepted into the University of Delaware’s PTTP program. In September she will begin to earn an MFA in Stage Management. Don Handfield played Robert Duvall’s son in Deep Impact, and recently finished production on a series of commercials - he directed the first spot for igogolf.com which aired on CBS during the Kemper Open and can be seen on AdCritic.com: http//www.adcritic.com/content/ igogolf.com-golfclub-graveyard.html. He also directed some spots for a new student study service, Study24-7.com, which can be seen at: http://www.adcritic.com/content/study247.com-lock-up.html. Don’s company’s web site is http//www.fogpilot.com. John Jacobson is currently line producer for a movie tentatively titled Driven that stars Sylvester Stallone. Cynthia Ohanion directed a workshop of

ENCORE 2000

Paul Knopf’s new musical, Signals, at the Kairos Theatre Company off-off Broadway in August of 1999; a full production was planned for December. She also directed a staged reading of Kevin Scott’s Blame It on the Bossa Nova in November, under the auspices of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation and the Creative Arts Project (CAP 21).

stage by Paul Becker, a close personal friend of Ginger Rogers, and Robert Kennedy, Ginger’s personal manager for the last 15 years of her life. Carl Skorepa has been named Production Manager at the Cain Park Summer Theatre in Cleveland Heights. He will be directly responsible for producing Damn Yankees and Violet, and for assisting guest artists on the summer’s other shows.

Dana Rowe and John Dempsey’s The Witches of Eastwick opened on the West End at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Tuesday, July 18; previews began June 24. Ian McShane Bruce Vilanch’s one-person show Almost (of Lovejoy fame), Lucie Arnaz, Maria Friedman Famous opened in New York on May 11, 2000, and Joanna Riding star in this musical based at the Westbeth Theatre Center. Charles on the John Updike novel and the Warner Isherwood, of Daily Variety called the show Brothers motion picture. The Witches of “as deliciously funny as you’d expect.” The Eastwick is the next London West End show first act chronicles his odd and somewhat by Cameron Mackintosh, the British producer unlikely rise to fame, from a charming child known for a string of hits including Cats, Les model (“chub division”) to child actor, to Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera and Chicago Tribune journalist, to working with Miss Saigon. Bette Midler. In According to the second act, Dempsey, who he answers wrote the book questions from and lyrics for this the audience and musical, “In the gives good dish tiny New England on lots of medium town of and big celebrity Eastwick, Rhode names, including Island, three Paul Lynde, modern day Michael Jackson, w i t c h e s Calista Flockhart, innocently plot T a l l u l a h and conjure over Bankhead, and a heady brew of Sophie Tucker. weak martinis Luke Yankee and peanut butter directed John brownies. But Davidson and when their The dedicated group of undergraduates who wrote, produced, directed, acted, designed, and stage managed Morgan Fairchild longings are in a political made flesh in the Live Backstage 2000, a fundraiser for AIDS. comedy, High arrival of one Infidelity, which Darryl Van Horne, opened in early August off-Broadway, at the all hell breaks loose. Quite literally.” You can Promenade Theatre. Also, Luke and his partner, follow the production process along at http:// www.witchesofeastwick.com. Witches Don Hill, have set up a website for rare musical racked up a lot of rave reviews, especially for theatre posters and photographs - Yankee Hill Dana and John’s score. Many critics praised Collectibles! You can check it out by visiting the show for breaking the long hold of the http://www.imall.com/stores/yankeehill. It ‘”sung-through” musical, and returning with includes an amazing range of posters from the fresh vigor to musical comedy. Long Beach Civic Opera, from the sublime to the ridiculous. Randy Skinner directed Abby’s Song, the 1999 holiday offering at the City Center in New York, where it played November 14-28th. Paul Sorvino (Law and Order, among others) was the guest star. Check out its website at www.abbyssong.com. Jackie Angelescu, who played Abby, has a journal on the web page, which talks a great deal about Randy’s rehearsal process. In May, Randy choreographed and appeared as Fred Astaire in Ginger, the Broadway-bound developmental musical about the life of Hollywood star Ginger Rogers at Otterbein College, which also starred Donna McKechnie as Lela Rogers and Nili Bassman as Ginger Rogers. Ginger is based on the autobiography, Ginger – My Story, written by Ginger Rogers. It was adapted for

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